Okay Ladies This Sounds Horrible But....

I think that you don't need to worry too much, since you're in the states, and you can't get raw milk cheese.

I got some by accident on a salad while I was pregnant, but it made me sick. So I don't know if that counts. I just got a taste of it and spit it out. It was one of the only things I couldn't stomach. I'd guess like wine and other things, it would be ok if you just do it very rarely.

I did eat it a few times while pregnant. It certainly seems like you crave things you can't have, right? If it makes you feel any better, this recommendation is relatively new (like the last 5 years or so).

I ate lunchmeat and blue cheese dressing w/crumbles throughout my 3 pregnancies. The chance of getting listeria is so slim. I never got it and I have 3 healthy boys. Don't worry about it!!

You have been fine since eating the cheese? If it would have been harmful to you, then you would already be sick and hugging your toilet, getting cramps and possibly contractions...
On the other hands, from what I understand, if you are fine a day or two after you ate the cheese, you don't have listeria, Research it on internet to reassure yourself.
There are so many worst things you could do while you are pregnant, like drinking or smoking, that could have a greater impact on your baby, so I would say better to chill out!!! you and your baby will be fine!!

Enjoy your pregnancy!!

it is only non-pasturized cheese that can harm you. most blue cheese that is out there these days is pasturized. i wouldn't worry about it.

There is so much concern about soft cheeses, but the fact of the matter is that ALL cheese in the USA is pasturized (hard, soft or otherwise). My doctor has no problem with me eating all types of cheese here at home. Now if you go to France you might want to be morecareful about the dairy you eat, but even there the risk is low.

while taking a chance every now and then is probably fine, i would not make it a habit. i try to avoid the things i have been warned about, but it seems the list grows all the time. with my son it was lunchmeat, but they mainly told me heavily processed meats like bologna or salami so i ate all the turkey i wanted and now this time around i'm being told no lunch meat at all, unless it is highly heated first. my son is fine but when i tell my mom about these things she says she wonders how she was able to have any children at all, because with her 4 kids she did not restrict herself in all of these ways. some doctors will tell you a glass of wine a day is fine, others will say stay away from alcohol completely. while your child is most likely fine, i would play it safe and just hold off on the blue cheese next time and remember you can eat it up when the baby is born!

I never heard of listeria from blue cheese - I thought you avoided changing cat litter boxes to avoid it while pregnant. The Blue Ribbon cheese burger at Red Robbin (burger with blue cheese on it) is one of my favorite. I also love blue cheese dressing on salad and chicken wings. I gave up eating oysters / clams on the half shell while pregnant. Blue cheese I've been eating most of my adult life with no problems.

all cheese sold in the USA is pasturized. Dont worry.

totally don't sweat it! We all have lapses from time to time. OK, maybe there are perfect pregnant moms out there, but I certainly wasn't one. And you know what? I have 2 ABSOLUTELY PERFECT baby boys. And when I was pregnant I ate a few meat sandwiches, had a glass of wine or two in the 3rd trimester, and even ate blue cheese and bean sprouts when I forgot I shouldn't. It will be OK.

Worrying about what is safe or not is worse for you than eating bleu cheese. I ate it pretty regularly while I was pregnant with 2 of my kids (both girls) and didn't have a problem. As long as you have sufficient digestive acids and a balance of enzymes, you and the baby should be fine. I wouldn't eat it often if you are dependent on antacids or acid reducers, or if you have had your gall bladder out. Otherwise, calm those cravings!Best wishes to you and yours.

As long as the dressing and cheese were pasteurized you are fine. The guidelines about no blue or soft cheeses are very over stated. As long as the cheese is pasteurized it doesn't matter. You should skip raw cheeses and milk.

I ate it a couple of times in both pregnancies and all was well. Just don't make a habit of it.

Hey C.! I TOTALLY know how you feel. Would you even believe I (a non-drinker) have been craving alcohol and lunch meat?!?!?!?!? And I've induldged the lunch meat craving time and time again. Although never had more than one sip of someone else's alcoholic drink. --- It really sucks when you want something you shouldn't have. ---- You obviously love your baby just like I do and we should probably both get our little pregnant butt's in line, but at this point I think the chances you've hurt your baby are so minimal that PROBABLY the stress you're going through now is more harmful. My advice is don't worry about and don't keep doing it. :) I'm sure everyone will be fine. Do you have any idea how many restaurants make ALL their salad dressings with raw egg and don't even tell us?!?!? Carrabba's does! How many pregnant women do you think have had a Carrabba's salad? Don't worry, the statistics are on your side. Best of luck!!! :)

I would avoid it in the future. The symptoms came on fast for me. I didn't get it from cheese but from a Christmas potluck. I was really sick for two days and miscarried later that week. I was not far along but think the listeria played a part in the lose. If you haven't gotten sick aready I wouldn't worry.

I know what you mean - I had cravings for raw cookie dough while I was pregnant (and also while I'm not pregnant!!) I ate it a few times and then worried about the raw eggs. My kids are fine :)

chances of you getting listeria from this are microscopic. relax!
:) khairete
S.

there is so little "real" blue cheese sold in America that the likelihood that you just ate it is pretty slim. the dressing will have been pasteurized (if it was ever blue cheese and not "blue cheese flavoring" to begin with) and the blue cheese crumbles, if sold here in any traditional grocery store, will have been pasteurized as well (again, if they were even real cheese to begin with). so you're fine. it's not a good idea to take the risk if you don't know what you're eating, but since you already ate it, you might as well comfort yourself with the fact that there's no real statistical reason to worry. it's unpasteurized cheeses, including blue and all the soft cheeses, that you need to worry about. mostly, you can only buy unpasteurized cheese in specialty stores (straight from France... yum!), but occasionally I've been surprised and found a real unpasteurized cheese at, say, Giant (the woman below is wrong that all cheese in America is pasteurized; I'm pretty sure all cheese ~produced~ in America is pasteurized, but even that I wouldn't say definitively, and you can definitely buy imported unpasteurized cheese here in the states). you just need to check the label. in a pasteurized cheese, the likelihood of contamination is really not greater than in just about any other food product.

and, since a bunch of moms brought it up, the deal with lunch meat is just that you have to heat it, and not very much (someone said something about getting it really hot or over-cooking it or something....). 15 seconds in the microwave more than does the trick. I did a lot of grilled sandwiches when I was pregnant b/c that sufficed for the heating. it's a pretty low temp that kills off the bacteria.

oh, and kitty litter has nothing to do with listeria (for the other confused mom), it's toxoplasmosis. but I digress.... :)

So, you didn't mention this specifically, but it sounds like you're pregnant. What makes you think that what you ate may have hurt the baby? To my knowledge, those items would have no effect on the fetus. Relax!

the threat from listeria is in unpasturized blue cheese. Most American made blue cheese is pasturized and is fine to eat. The general rule about soft cheeses is becasue they sometimes aren't pasturized. In the US they are. It is only if you eat imported soft cheese that you could get sick. So as long as the blue cheese was made here you are fine

Hey, so as long as you're here in the states, chances are you're fine. In my pregnant grocery travels, I found that most cheeses sold here are pasteurized, even the soft ones. If you have the package, take a look...I used to crave Brie and found many brands that were pasteurized. Either way, the chances are slim that anything bad would happen, just keep em slim by checking the labels from here on out. Best of luck!

I ate blue cheese and have two normal kids.

I never heard that you shouldn't have bleu cheese when pregnant and I ate it several times during my pregnancies. I have four perfectly healthy children. I wouldn't worry about it! Enjoy your pregnancy and don't sweat the small stuff :)

H.

It is not horrible, my doctor told me you would have to eat a whole lot of it to do any harm, and I mean you would have to eat a cupful of it everyday. Just be carful with raw chicken, raw fish, sushi, and oysters and anything raw, and you will be ok, don't worry, I have diabetes and my blood sugar was not always the best and i ate soft cheese and things I shouldn't have and I had a couple of glasses of wine with my second daughter early in the pregnancy and everyone turned out beautiful and healthy, I have two beautiful daughters. You will be fine, mother nature is tougher than we give her credit for.