Cheese & Pregnancy

We're not medical experts at Starter Culture, but we can share our knowledge to help our customers make decisions on what cheese they eat. 

Cheese can be consumed during pregnancy, but it's recommended to avoid soft, semi-soft and blue cheeses. These cheeses may contain Listeria, a bacterium with can cause Listeriosis.

Listeria isn't naturally present in milk and cheese, but can come from contamination of raw materials or from the environment in which the cheese is made or ripened. The high-moisture environment of a soft or blue cheese is a more likely area for Listeria to grow. This is why these cheeses are best avoided.

It is also recommended to avoid cheese rinds on all types of cheese. However, hard and aged cheeses are considered to be safe to eat. 

The cheeses we stock which fall into this safe category are as follows:

• Isle of Mull Cheddar
• Lincolnshire Poacher
• Parmigiano Reggiano
• Black Bomber
• Cornish Kern
• Connage Smoked
• Manchego La Mancha

 

We would generally consider an aged cheese to be a minimum of six months old and safe to eat. If you have any questions about which of our cheeses are safe for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our team who can help.