Pregnancy and Raw Cheeses

lol this is right up my alley. lol

I grew up on a dairy farm and guess what we did with the milk? We made cheese. Pasturized, Raw, and soft types.

The only thing that makes a "raw" cheese different than any other kind of cheese is that it is not pasturized at a high temp and held for a certain amount of time at that high temp before cooling. The milk that the "raw" cheese is made with is still heated, held, cooled, etc but is not heated to as high a temp (which would be considered pasturization).

When making as an example cheddar the process AFTER pasturization is EXACTLY the same.To put it simply and not to give away any "secrets of the receipes used" There is the culturing and rennet is added. It sets. You cut it. You drain it, stir it, heat it, block it, flip it, cut it again, and hoop it. Then after draining and compressing into large squares you cut it, repack it, age it and sell it. (note to anyone who thinks this sounds "really easy" It takes about 12 hours to process ONE half of a tanker of milk... In an industrial plant... That does not include pressing time...)

Now, SOFT cheeses are different. They do not go thru the process that a "hard" cheese (cheddar, jack, colby, swiss, etc) does. The process basicly would stop after the culturing and rennet.(there may be one or two more steps depending on the type of cheese) It is not heated again typically.

Cheese spreads are different. They typically have a hard cheese base. A mixture of cured hard cheeses that are melted together using steam, with other ingredients added. So things like your port wine , buttery swiss, cheddar and bacon spreads, etc are not considered "soft" cheeses because they come from hard cheeses that usually have gone thru the pasturization process when made...

I can also tell you that my mom not only made the cheese but also made 2 children while making and eating the cheese... Raw and pasturized... (Also feta which I would not consider a "soft" cheese)

There may be somethings I left out... But I gotta run get my kiddos from school... Hope this helps...

You can eat any soft cheese that has been pastuerized. Some Feta is, and some feta isn't. Just read your labels!

the danger is listeria .. from listeria monocytogenes bacteria..

listeria can cause miscarriage..

It is a danger in soft cheese. do a google search on listeria and cheese and ask your dr..

It is a real risk.. although I think there have been less cases recently..

If it is pasturized you can eat. it, doesn't matter the type.

I would still recommend checking with your doctor - as you may get a variance of opinions here. I'd leave ANY soft cheese alone as they are not recommended in this type of diet.
I personally avoided all things I was advised against to play it safe and to make sure not just the pregnancy was okay, but my baby didn't suffer for anything I did out of error~
But this is my personality to do so.