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Is it okay to eat soft cheese?

Posted on Jun 26th 2007 3:40PM by Martha Edwards

Filed Under: Nutrition & Supplements

If you read my posts often, you probably already know that I love cheese. With an unadulterated passion. mmmmm.

Anyway, a friend of mine is pregnant, and when I suggested we snack on a cheese tray at a recent visit, she told me she couldn't eat any soft cheese, like brie and feta. I thought this was a bit strange so I decided to look in to it and figure out why soft cheese isn't safe for pregnant women. Turns out that while hard cheese is made with pasteurized milk, soft ones aren't, and can harbour harmful bacteria (called listeria) that can be fatal to babies, seniors and other people with weak immune systems.

I've eaten plenty of brie in my time and have never gotten sick from it, but I don't like the idea of eating bacteria that can kill people. Should I avoid my favourite soft cheeses, or are my chances of getting ill pretty slim? eDiets says you're better safe than sorry, but what do you think?

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Tags: bacteria, bleu cheese, BleuCheese, brie, camambert, cheese, feta, hard cheese, HardCheese, listeria, pasteruized, soft cheese, SoftCheese, unpasterurized

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Erin 6-27-2007 @ 12:31AM

Hi everyone! I work at Tastings Gourmet Market and Artisanal Cheese Center in Annapolis, MD. There are so many misconceptions about cheese that I had to respond to this article!

The statement that hard cheeses are made from pasteurized milk and soft ones aren't, is incorrect. Any cheese can be made from unpasteurized milk, but it must be aged at least 60 days before it can be sold in the United States (this is an FDA regulation).

In fact, soft cheeses are much more likely to be pasteurized here in the US because of that regulation (because soft cheeses are usually younger than 60 days).

Overall, unpasteurized cheeses have developed a bad reputation that they really don't deserve. They've been blamed for all manner of sicknesses, but Europeans gobble down unpasteurized cheese all the time (pregnant women included!)

A true, artisanal, handmade, unpasteurized cheese is a joy to eat. It is also about the farthest from the rubbery, mass-produced Kraft single as you can get.

I predict that we'll be seeing more and more unpasteurized cheeses in the US as Americans embrace the quality foods that are coming in from Europe, and are becoming increasingly available to the general public.

Let me know what you think! I'd also be happy to answer any cheese questions :-D

Becky 6-27-2007 @ 12:31AM

"Better safe than sorry" only makes sense when you're giving up risk without giving up benefits. Many unpasteurized foods have more nutrients, because the pasteurization process itself destroys some of those nutrients. So you're exchanging a miniscule risk for a certain loss. IMO, not a good deal.

I, for one, wish MORE unpasteurized foods were available in the United States.

N. Suga 6-27-2007 @ 10:34AM

Yep, my doctor pointed out that Greek women must eat feta all the time, pregnant or not (same with Japanese women and raw fish). Now I know that standards and quality might be different in those countries for those types of foods but really, blanket statements like "don't eat this" aren't really true anymore.

(He also basically said that during pregnancy, women should "just eat nice," which works for me!)