What's the story with raw and soft cheese during pregnancy?

[nylaboo]

Is the "no soft cheese during pregnancy" line just as much hype as the "no raw milk"? The concern is with lysteria (sp?) bacteria and I read that 2500 people get sick each year from it in the US. And that your chances of getting ill from it when you are pregnant are higher. So, with that said, those that enjoy raw milk during pregnancy, did you also enjoy soft cheeses? Is this a different concern all together?

[westcoastmom]

I think so.

I didn't have a source for raw milk when I was pregnant, but if I got pregnant again, I would use raw dairy including my own cream cheese, yogurt, creme fraiche.

[Taedareth]

I'll be checking back on this thread to see if someone has the authoritative answer. As for now, I'm planning to drink raw milk (fresh and kefired) as well as aged kefir cheeses (homemade) during my next pregnancy. I figure Weston Price would agree with that.

[Rachel J.]

I'm guessing that there is more of a concern with soft cheeses because if they're made conventionally they're more likely to get tainted, like processed meats. I'd be more comfortable with raw dairy products then with factory-farmed, mass-produced soft cheeses.

[auntieM]

From a letter in Wise Traditions & posted on the WAPF site:

"Raw milk produced in clean conditions and raw hard cheeses are safe for pregnant women (we recommend that pregnant women drink 1 quart of whole raw milk per day), but it's best to be careful about all commercial soft cheeses, not because they are "raw," but because they are often improperly pasteurized, that is, the temperature, which kills all the protective components of milk but not the pathogens."

Incidentally, if I have questions about food safety, nutrition, supplements, etc., I always go to the WAPF site first & search for the topic in question.

[provocativa]

I've only heard of 2 isolated instances of listeria in soft cheeses, in the last 5 years- and the last one was President Brie. People get listeriosis from crappy lunch meats much more frequently than from a fine camembert.