Sure, you might have a bit of brie, or a piece of cold meat and nothing happen to the baby.... does that also make it ok to have a cigarette? Or to pop an ecstacy tablet? Or to have a shot of alcohol?
No, but people still do it .... I have many friends who continued to smoke throughout pregnancy, purely because of the belief that their baby will be smaller to birth ... WITHOUT taking into consideration the health risks to both mother and child. But that is off the topic

Fiona - I remember reading somewhere a couple of years ago that the foetal mortality rate in Japan was high (and for the life of me can't find the study now!) but I don't think there were any attributions to listeria ... but it does make you wonder doesn't it?

I know many years ago when I was pregnant with my first child, I wondered about the sushi - I had eaten sushi at least 2-3 times a week for many years before falling pregnant - and I thought "well what do Japanese women eat when they are pregnant?" For me though, each time I have been pregnant, I have gone totally off seafood Plus all meats (red, chicken, pork ...) and the last two times vegetables even churned my stomach ... doesn't leave alot to eat does it? lol