Can we eat blue-veined cheese if it's cooked?

[Amanda]

I know we can eat things like prawns if they are cooked properly, so is there any reason I can't have blue cheese if it's cooked?

I know we are to avoid stilton because of the possibility of listeria, but surely cooking would kill this?

I keep seeing that bloody M&S advert for the risotto with danish blue in it, and really want some!!!!!

 

[moo2]

Hi Amanda, my neighbour has been a midwife for 20 years and she said its fine to eat blue cheese as long as its cooked and served piping hot. Same goes for brie etc. Two of her current expectant mummies are french and they think our food rules for pregnant women are crazy! They eat runny, mouldy cheese most days and are fine!

 

[Rach276]

Ooo diddnt know this! i really miss brie

 

[Angelmouse]

OH MY GOSH!!!

Broccoli and Stilton Soup here comes Angelmouse!!!

Thanks Amanda!

 

[Fossey]

I had some blue cheese dressing the other day, checked for eggs and didn't even think about the blue cheese part. Worried for hours after but thankfully I didn't get ill.

 

[Pyrrhic]

It's fine to eat any cheese as long as it's cooked or melted as it kills off the bacteria that could cause a problem.

 

[Blob]

Yup i eat cheese thats cooked all the time... mmmmm... i couldnt go this long without it

 

[Chellebelle]

mmmm broccoli and stilton souppppp

I must admit... I have had a few bowls of this since being pregnant... but now I feel better about it after reading this thread

 

[Tiff]

As far as I know you should be able to provided that the cheese has been heated to the point of bubbling... although I don't know if blue cheese actually 'bubbles'.

I will say though, to be careful. There's been a massive listeria outbreak here and I think to date 16 people have died from it across the country. I could be wrong though, so don't take that as gospel. It was mainly the elderly as Listeria doesn't really affect healthy adults.

There have been a few cases linked to cheese, and I think 4 pregnant mothers contracted the listeria strain. From what the radio said, all of them gave birth pre-maturely but only two of the babies born tested positive for the listeria strain.

Personally it's not something I would risk, but truth be told that's only because of the listeria outbreak here. The first was with meat products (like deli roast beef, ham, turkey, etc) and the second outbreak was with cheese from Quebec.

It's been hard for me too, because I love blue cheese and have been craving it like MAD, but you never ever know when it's going to happen. Plus there's a freaky long incubation period with it, and most people don't develop symptions until six weeks after eating the infected product. It's insane.

I just looked up a link, read here to see how many have died from it (17 people now!) But again, healthy non-pregnant adults are not at risk. It's mainly the elderly, the young and pregnant women.

Sorry... not to scare you all or anything and it IS different because there's an actual outbreak here, but to me an ounce of prevention is much more worth than a pound of cure. Just make sure everything is heated thoroughly and washed well!

 

[Amanda]

Thanks everyone. I do agree that our food rules are a bit silly on some things. I've not heard about salmonela in eggs for years, yet no runny eggs are allowed. I've never heard about anyone getting sick from having rare meat, yet we must have ours cooked to a cinder.

I was going to say that I was going to rush out any buy some, but I'm not too sure after reading Tyff's post. I was going to say that I'd never heard of anyone getting listeria, but after reading that, it's scary isn't it?

Oh bugger, not sure now!!!! I still think it's going to be safe. Chances are that those people who have contracted it ate it uncooked.

Decisions, decisions........

 

[Hevz]

Thanks everyone. I do agree that our food rules are a bit silly on some things. I've not heard about salmonela in eggs for years, yet no runny eggs are allowed.

The eggs from the supermarket have a lion stamp on them which means the chickens they came from have been vaccinated against salmonella....so yep...I eat runny "dippy" eggs

yummy

 

[Tiff]

was going to say that I was going to rush out any buy some, but I'm not too sure after reading Tyff's post. I was going to say that I'd never heard of anyone getting listeria, but after reading that, it's scary isn't it?

Awww, I certainly didn't mean to scare anyone! It just totally caught me off guard about listeria.... every one of my pregnancy books say that it's rare you'll ever come across it, and here we are with a huge outbreak!

The main source of it was deli meats, like shaved ham, roast beef, stuff like that. The irony (I believe) is that even if they had microwaved the meat for like 30 seconds to warm it up it would have been enough to kill the bacteria.

I've yet to come across pasturized eggs... how I miss dipping toast into runny egg yolks!

 

[PeanutBean]

Hiya, for almost all the guidelines (including runny eggs) the issue is with listeria because it transfers to the foetus and can cause serious damage. I posted about this in another thread, some of the statistics abut the risk of actually contracting it which are very minimal. The thread is here https://www.babyandbump.com/pregnancy-club/47750-soft-ice-cream-5.html and there is a link in my post to a website with more info.

 

[kiwimama]

It will be find as long as you've cooked it to be piping hot - enjoy!

 

[Fossey]

Thanks everyone. I do agree that our food rules are a bit silly on some things. I've not heard about salmonela in eggs for years, yet no runny eggs are allowed.

The eggs from the supermarket have a lion stamp on them which means the chickens they came from have been vaccinated against salmonella....so yep...I eat runny "dippy" eggs

yummy

Me too!