Feta in salad?

[HotI]

Is feta in salad (home made salad but the feta is not cooked) a listeria risk?

Is there a less risky way to buy the feta? (pre-packed rather than deli)

So far i have just avoided all of the cheeses unless they are cooked, but i want to make a chickpea salad that has feta in it, and i can't think of an alternative that will hit the spot.

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[Cherished]

I think you can get pasteurised feta which is ok. I ate fetta in pg anyway

could you use halloumi instead?

[Pholi]

Make it fresh! I made some the day before Christmas, and decided it was safe for me to eat it the day after making, so I could share in the eating of it at Christmas.

That's probably not the answer you were looking for, though. It takes a bit of time, effort, know-how and of course the right culture. I wouldn't eat any form of shop bought feta, though - deli or pre-packed. Depending on the salad, maybe you could substitute with havarti, or shaved parmesan?

[Elocin]

I've eaten feta in the packet from the supermarket - it is clearly marked whether it is pasteurised or not. It's not as crumbly as the stuff from the deli, but it's still yummy.

[redgum]

FYI - All Australian soft cheeses are pasteurised (it's law) some hard cheeses are not (most of them are imported). The Listeria risk is not from if it is pasteurised or not. Australia doesn't have a huge listeria problem but it can still occur even though our cheeses are pasteurised. Having said that I ate soft cheese in my last trimester, but since I own a deli I knew the producers who were making it and trusted it - but it's still a risk and you need to decide if you are prepared to take it. I like the halloumi suggestion, grilled halloumi and mango salad is delicious, otherwise you could go with a hard cheese instead.

[Trillian]

FYI - All Australian soft cheeses are pasteurised (it's law) some hard cheeses are not (most of them are imported). The Listeria risk is not from if it is pasteurised or not. Australia doesn't have a huge listeria problem but it can still occur even though our cheeses are pasteurised. Having said that I ate soft cheese in my last trimester, but since I own a deli I knew the producers who were making it and trusted it - but it's still a risk and you need to decide if you are prepared to take it. I like the halloumi suggestion, grilled halloumi and mango salad is delicious, otherwise you could go with a hard cheese instead.

Yep, this! You wont find unpasturised cheese in this country. Personally, it's up to your own judgement on it. If you have avoided cheeses for the pg, maybe you might have to skip it this time as well. I never worried about cheeses and ate them like they were going out of fashion when I was pg, but I felt the risk of any problems was low to non existent. So long as you know where the cheese has come from and has always been kept at the right temp, then it should be fine, but it's up to you and where your comfort zone is.

[Ladylove]

The rules on unpasteurised cheeses in Australia have relaxed in recent years. As others have said Australian cheese and milk is all pasteurized but you can buy imported unpasteurised cheese now. To be honest I didn't bother with the no soft or unpasteurised cheese thing. I figured I'm better off avoiding week old bread etc and I just make sure I eat only fresh or freshly opened foods.

[HotI]

Thanks all. I could only get deli feta and so just decided to make the salad and added the feta later to DH and DDs. Mine was pretty good anyway, although DH said the feta made the salad just right

[MummyNaomi]

Yep, as above, my OB confirmed pasteurized cheeses are completely safe - indulge - dont miss out on the feta!!

I have an awesome Beetroot, chickpea, feta and mint salad recipe if you are interested, its the BOMB!!