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Eating Cheese During Pregnancy

While eating cheese during pregnancy, you need to ensure that the cheese was made of pasteurized milk and not raw milk! This is because raw milk contains a harmful bacteria, called Listeria monocytogenes, that can cause several diseases, especially to the fetus, by passing through the placenta. This is more likely in case of soft cheese, as they are made of raw milk, making them less acidic. Also, they have more moisture than hard cheese, which makes them the perfect breeding ground for Listeria and other bacteria. However, these bacteria are generally killed during the process of pasteurization making cheese made from pasteurized milk safe to consume. I must point out that, only 1,600 Americans are victimized by this bacteria found in unpasteurized dairy products, every year. Listeria is known to be responsible for blood poisoning and deadly infections like listeriosis, meningitis and several flu symptoms. Unfortunately, pregnant women are at a higher risk of the ill effects of Listeria because the body’s defense mechanism becomes more vulnerable. They may suffer from nausea, vomiting and muscle aches. These symptoms develop within 2 to 30 days of ingestion of Listeria. According to statistics, pregnant women have 20 times higher chance of suffering from listeriosis. Nonetheless, it is detrimental to your baby’s health and can even lead to birth complications like preterm labor, stillbirth or a miscarriage, though it may not be fatal to your health. Did you know? 22 in 100 cases of listeriosis in pregnant women result in death of the baby. So, avoid soft cheese during pregnancy like
•Camembert
•Brie
•Cambozola
•All kinds of goat cheese or chèvre that is mold-ripened like feta cheese, castelo branco
•All types of blue-veined cheese like Gorgonzola, Roquefort, Danish blue
•White Mexican-style cheese like queso fresco, blanco, panela
Please note that, imported cheese are more likely to be made of raw milk. Do not buy them unless they mention otherwise. Although, you cannot always be a 100% sure that there is no Listeria in your cheese, pasteurization can minimize the possibility and thus, hard cheese is recommended over soft cheese during pregnancy. Cheddar cheese, Gouda, Edam, Parmesan and Swiss cheese are good choices to satisfy your craving for cheese during pregnancy. Apart from Listeria, soft cheese may also contain another bacteria called Escherichia coli. This can cause serious illnesses in both the mother and the baby, like diarrhea, food poisoning, fever and meningitis. Other great substitutes for soft cheese during pregnancy are cottage cheese, mozzarella and cream cheese.