Help Me, Heidi! What Cheeses Are Safe to Eat During Pregnancy?

By all means say cheese if you please when you’re pregnant, and while you’re at it, say it often. Cheese is a super source of calcium and protein, two essential baby building blocks. Say "low-fat cheese," and you’re scoring those vital nutrients for relatively few calories — a good case for saying "extra cheese, please!"

And here’s another: Eat it in combo with whole grain crackers (or other complex carbs), and cheese may help curb your quease, boost your energy and your mood, head off headaches, and improve your sleep. Deliciously.

So, if cheese is your pregnancy friend, you ask — what’s this you hear about brie and babies not mixing? Or feta? Or queso? Or fresh mozzarella or goat? Or aged blue?

Which kinds of cheese can you say yes to, and which should take a pregnant pass, for safety’s sake?

Happily for cheese lovers, most of the cheese sold in the U.S. is completely safe to eat during pregnancy, because most is made from pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is a form of food processing that’s actually good for you and your baby, safely destroying bacteria in dairy products (and juice) without destroying nutrients.

Cheese that’s labeled "pasteurized" is considered a safe bet, whether it’s hard cheese or soft cheese, whether it will be served cooked in a casserole, melted on a sandwich or piping hot on a pizza, crumbled cold in a salad or atop an enchilada, or room temperature on a cheese plate. And it’s considered safe whether you’re chowing down on that cheese in your first trimester, your second or your third. 

Cheese you should say no to when you’re pregnant? Unpasteurized (or raw milk) soft cheese can be contaminated with listeria, a harmful bacteria that can cause listeriosis. This primarily foodborne infection is particularly dangerous for expectant moms, who are about 20 times more likely to develop listeriosis after eating a contaminated food than other healthy adults are.

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Unlike other bacteria, listeria enters the bloodstream directly and can get to a baby quickly, possibly leading to miscarriage, preterm birth, stillbirth, or serious illness (or even death) in a newborn. Though the overall risk of contracting listeriosis is extremely low — even when you’re pregnant — the potential of it causing problems in pregnancy is higher. Risks may be greater in the third trimester, but experts (including the CDC and ACOG) recommend taking precautions to prevent listeria infection throughout pregnancy.

Where does that leave your next Greek salad, spoonful of blue cheese crumbles, plate of fresh mozzarella? Play it safe. Say "yes, please" to soft cheese (such as queso blanco, queso fresco, panela, soft goat, brie, Camembert, any blue-veined cheese, feta, paneer) only if you’re positive the cheese you’re choosing is made with pasteurized milk. Same goes for cottage cheese, ricotta, cream cheese, and processed cheese (most of these cheese products are pasteurized).

As a general rule, imported cheese is more likely to be unpasteurized than domestic cheese. Look for labeling at the market to ensure a cheese is made from pasteurized milk, and if you’re ordering up soft cheese at a restaurant, make sure you ask first (if you’re not confident in the answer, order something else). Heating a soft cheese until bubbly can destroy harmful bacteria, but that’s a tall order for most soft cheeses. 

Want to play it extra, extra safe? The CDC has linked some listeria infection outbreaks to Mexican-style soft cheeses made from pasteurized milk but under less-than-reliably sanitary conditions, with contamination most likely taking place during the cheese-making. 

Hard cheese, because it has a far lower moisture content (bacteria breed best in moist conditions) is not considered a listeria risk, even when it’s made from unpasteurized milk. Still, with pasteurized cheese so easy to find, why eat it raw?  

Does the (soft) cheese stand alone when it comes to listeria? No — as you may have heard, deli meats, smoked fish, uncooked sprouts and unpasteurized milk and juice also carry that small (but significant) risk. 

Looking forward to the arrival of your baby bundle? Of course you are (and so am I — so get ready to post photos on my IG and Facebook @HeidiMurkoff). But here’s something else you can look forward to: falling hard again for soft cheese. Breastfeeding and brie (and feta and quesos of all kind) do mix — without worries about listeria. 

Say cheese!

Big hugs,

Heidi