Warning - Parmesan cheese!!

[kaylz]

Just popped over from 2nd tri to share:

I don't know how I have got this far through pregnancy without realising this, but all parmesan cheese is made with UNPASTEURISED milk!

Just noticed last night as I was about to put the usual heap of the stuff on my pasta. I've always assumed that all 'hard' cheeses were ok, but clearly this is an exception to the rule.

I checked all the different brands at the supermarket today (including that 'long-life' powdery parmesan you get in the tubs on the shelf) and all of it is made with unpasteurised milk.

Just thought I would pass this one in case it's not just me.....!

 

[Jibber Jabber]

OOOoo weird, the Hipp leaflet I got said that Parmesan was ok? Ughhh the mixed messages everywhere!!

 

[sammiwry]

Luckily I don't like parmesan cheese, but I always thought the majority cheeses was made with pasturised milk :S

 

[Newky]

Hi, on the NHS website (link below) it says that parmesan is ok? x

https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/pregnancy/Pages/healthyeating.aspx

 

[RainbowDrop_x]

I wouldn't fuss over the "guidelines" too much.

I craved runny eggs all the way through 1st,2nd tri and my LO's just fine .

Aslong as you're not eating enough to fill up a hungry horse you'll be fine

 

[kaylz]

Hi, on the NHS website (link below) it says that parmesan is ok? x

https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/pregnancy/Pages/healthyeating.aspx

Yeah, it's confusing. Someone on 2nd tri has said that parmesan is too hard for listeria to survive on which would make sense. However, the Asda cheese that I had bought specifically said 'Warning: not suitable for pregnant women as contains unpasteurised milk' - not very helpful if it is, in fact, OK to eat!

 

[Annabobble]

I've craved cheese from day 1, but I've just been eating cheddar to be on the safe side!!

 

[subaru555]

It's fine to eat, don't worry about it.

 

[Pink_Tinks]

i ate it when i was pregnant coz i totally love the stuff... only realised when i was outting some away and notice it said it was made with unpasturised milk..

Harriet's totally fine and im okay (most of the time lol)

just gotta think, our parents probably ate anything and everything when they were pregnant and we're all okay!

 

[~Mummy~]

However, the Asda cheese that I had bought specifically said 'Warning: not suitable for pregnant women as contains unpasteurised milk' - not very helpful if it is, in fact, OK to eat!

I wouldn't worry too much about the ''warnings'' on the Asda packets. I remember months ago someone on the TTC boards had bought a packet of those carrots sticks and had a similar warning, for pregnant women, because of the vitamin A in carrots!! The vitamin A in carrots come from beta carotene which is *not* what is dangerous in high amounts.

 

[bunnyg82]

Hi, on the NHS website (link below) it says that parmesan is ok? x

https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/pregnancy/Pages/healthyeating.aspx

Yeah, it's confusing. Someone on 2nd tri has said that parmesan is too hard for listeria to survive on which would make sense. However, the Asda cheese that I had bought specifically said 'Warning: not suitable for pregnant women as contains unpasteurised milk' - not very helpful if it is, in fact, OK to eat!

I think Asda are over cautious! We bought some little packs of carrot batons and it says that they are unsuitable for pregnant women or women trying to conceive!! It caused a lot of confusion! I had never heard anything about carrots before, but I think it's cos they have vitamin D in them

 

[mystika802]

I didnt know about any of this stuff when I was pregnant with my first, I didnt follow guidelines or anything of that sort and he was a happy healthy baby

 

[summer rain]

Hi

I don't use normal parmesan as it contains animal rennet that I cannot eat for religious reasons; so I use something called Parmezano; I am not normally a fan of fake cheeses but trust me once you start using this normal parmesan will taste disgusting! You get it in the free-from section of the supermarket. Its really gorgeous sprinkled on homemade soups as well.

BTW I am shocked at the carrot batons thing; you need vitamin A in pregnancy and it is the retinol form (found in some types of meat) that is dangerous, if they're telling women to avoid ALL vitamin A containing foods in pregnancy that could actually be causing a deficiency in itself and beta carotene vitamin A in smaller amounts is vital to eye development as well as some other things.

Soph x

 

[c-demers]

In the US, we are told parmesan is completely fine...here is a list of cheeses you can and cannot eat....
Hard cheeses:
Austrian smoked, Babybel, Caerphilly, Cheddar, Cheshire, Derby, Double Gloucester, Edam, Emmental, English goat's cheddar, feta, Gouda, Gruyere, Halloumi, Havarti, Jarlsberg, Lancashire, Manchego, Orkney, paneer, Parmesan, Pecorino (hard), Provolone, Red Leicester.

Soft and processed cheeses:
Boursin, cottage cheese, cream cheese, feta, goat's cheese without a white rind, mascarpone, mozzarella, Philadelphia, processed cheese (such as cheese spread), Quark, ricotta.

Yoghurts (all varieties), probiotic drinks, fromage frais, soured cream and crème fraîche - 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, chèvre (goats cheese with a white rind), Pont L'Eveque, Taleggio, Vacherin-Fribourgeois

Blue-veined cheeses:
Bergader, Bleu d'Auvergne, Blue Wensleydale, Shropshire Blue, Danish Blue, Dolcelatte, Gorgonzola, Roncal, Roquefort, Stilton, tomme, Wensleydale (blue).

Soft, unpasteurised cheese, including goat and sheep's cheeses:
Chabichou, Pyramide, Torta del Cesar.


I googled this to find an accurate answer to back up what I knew was already true, and I came across this on yahoo answers. Hope it doesn't offend anyone, it was somebody's answer, it's blunt but it made me laugh:

Question: Is parmesan safe to eat while pregnant?
Hi all, I am married to an Italian and we eat a great deal of parmesan. I have done a bit of research on the net about cheeses to avoid while pregnant. I know it has to do with the milk being pasteurized but I can't seem to find anything on the packaging indicating that it is.

Answer:
Im not trying to sound rude because your a soon to be mother and your worried. Whats up with this rash of can and cant do on pregnant dont eat this take these pills avoid this dont do that. A long time ago babies were born fine without all the nervous precautions. In fact today we have more autism and ******ation than like ever.

 

[mummy_blues]

Hi, I've lived in France and Switzerland, currently in Germany.
We eat all kinds of cheeses over here everyday. cheeses here are all made of unpasteurized milk. Hard cheese are ESP GOOD for pregnant women because of the high calcium content. And you don't have to worry about listeria because hard cheeses are left to "ripen" for months (Parmigiano-Reggiano or parmesan is left to ripe for over 30months), and the ripening process kills all the listeria.
Listeria only lurks at cold damp places like refrigerators, wet soft cheeses and "wet" meat.
don't worry about hard cheese, every pregnant woman in Europe from the swiss alps to south italy eats homemade hard cheeses while they are pregnant and they've been eating it since the last middle ages---- there is really nothing to worry about...

I am currently having a craving for pasta sauce with melted real parmesan. I also have a craving for hard cheese and I take mostly Appenzeller, emmentaler, Gouda, Manchego for breakfast and lunch. None of us has heard of any listeria cases nor pregnancy implications caused by hard cheeses...

If you are worried, then opt for the "fake" plastic cheese (like they have in the US- made out of oil and pressed together in a factory) or those strange parmesan powder?? they serve at pizza hut in america?
Women in Europe have been eating cheeses since the last Middle ages.....

 

[Maffie]

Asda have actually started putting not suitable for use in pregnancy on their parmesan. I must admit I used it in my last pregnancy in risotto