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Cheeses which are SAFE to eat in pregnancy
Hard cheeses:
austrian smoked, Babybel, caerphilly, cheddar, cheshire, derby, double gloucester, edam, emmental, english goat's cheddar, feta (if bought in the UK), gouda, gruyere, halloumi, havarti, jarlsberg, lancashire, mozzarella, orkney, paneer, parmesan, pecorino (hard), provolone, red leicester.
Soft and processed cheeses:
Boursin, cottage cheese, cheese spread, cream cheese, mascarpone, philadelphia, quark, ricotta.
Yoghurts, fromage frais, soured cream and creme fraiche -- any variety, including natural, flavoured and biologically active -- are all safe to eat.
Cheeses to AVOID in pregnancy
Mould-ripened soft cheeses:
brie, blue brie, cambozola, camembert, chaumes, pont L'eveque, prince jean, tallegio. vacherin-fribourgeois, weichkaese.
Blue-veined cheeses:
bavarian blue, bergader, bleu d'Auvergne, blue shropshire, cabrales, Danish blue, dolcelatte, doppelrhamstuge, eldel pilz, gorgonzola, manchego, romano, roncal, roquefort, stilton, tommes, wensleydale (blue).
Soft unpasteurised goat and sheep's cheeses:
chabichou, pyramide, torta del cesar.
:
Cheese is an important source of protein and calcium for pregnant women but certain kinds do need to be avoided. Pregnant women are advised not to eat soft, mould-ripened cheeses, such as brie or camembert, and blue-veined cheeses, such as danish blue and stilton. This is because these cheeses are more inclined to allow growth of bacteria, such as listeria, which can harm your unborn child.
However, thorough cooking should kill any listeria, so it should be safe to eat food containing soft mould-ripened or blue-veined cheeses, provided the food has been properly cooked and is piping hot all the way through.
babycentreUK