feta on a pizza...okay since it gets cooked?

[rach03]

I searched some threads and it seems that there is some debate over whether even pasturized feta is safe.

I asked DH to pick me up some organic frozen pizzas for lunch because I've been craving pizza, and he ended up getting a feta and spinach pizza. The ingredient list says the feta is made from pasturized milk, and I would be heating up the pizza in the oven at 400 degrees.

So safe or no? If there is even a slight risk I'll just feed it to my toddler...I'm way paranoid after my losses.

Thanks :)

[alegna]

I'd say totally safe. But I have not seen *anything* to say that pasteurized feta isn't safe. But then cook it to the temps you need to get a pizza bubbly and ready? I don't know anything that can survive that....

-Angela

[rach03]

Thanks Angela! I was thinking 400 degrees would be able to kill pretty much anything.

Excellent, because it sounds really good! :D

[alegna]

Thanks Angela! I was thinking 400 degrees would be able to kill pretty much anything.

Excellent, because it sounds really good! :D

:lol yeah. I don't know any buggers that can survive 400 degrees....

does sound yummy!

-Angela

[NatureMama3]

should be fine and as long as it's not unpasteurized should be fine anyway. :)

[SMR]

I've eaten cold pasturized feta.. can you even get unpasturized in the US?

[NatureMama3]

if you look hard you can, some import fetas and some locally produced unpastuerized exist, but most of it is pasteurized.

[Ruthla]

What's wrong with feta cheese while pg in the first place? I've honestly never even heard of that before now.

[Ruthla]

whoops! double post!

[FiberLover]

IMO, as a hobby cheesemaker, nothing is wrong with fresh, uncooked feta anyways.

Feta lives in brine. Brine kills bad germs.

:).

Cooked feta is definitely safe!

Btw, this pasturized/unpasturized thing is pointless IMO.

ALL cheeses aged less that 60 days in the US are required by law to be pasturized.

The cheeses that actually hold a potential risk of listeria are the bloom-mold-ripened cheeses [think Brie] and in studies done about milk and cheese safety, unpasturized vs pasturized for these cheeses is not the issue...BOTH pasturized and unpasturized mold-ripened cheeses have the same risk.

At the same time, UNpasturized hard cheeses such as cheddars and parmesans are actually safer than pasturized cheeses in the studies.


As someone who has read extensively on cheese safety, and makes cheese, I won't eat the bloom ripened mold cheeses . I WILL eat every other kind of cheese.

Except for the Mexican-factory produced cheeses, these are actually the only ones in the US and Canada that actually have had cases of Listeria in the past 30 yrs that have been bad for pregnant women.

[NatureMama3]

it can carry listeria.

eta: unfortunately the brine does NOT protect.

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/factsheets/factsheets2005/listeriacommonlyaske3115.cfm

Feta can support the growth of Listeria during the initial stage of ripening, and brine solutions in which the cheese is salted and/or ripened can serve as a potential source for these bacteria. Growth of Listeria will stop when the pH falls to 4.6 during ripening, however, the bacteria can survive for more than 90 days in feta although numbers will gradually decline during this period.

Feta cheese bought unpackaged from a delicatessen counter should be avoided. Feta cheese bought packaged, presents a lower risk than the mould ripened cheese, but is a higher risk than hard cheeses.

[FiberLover]

it can carry listeria.

eta: unfortunately the brine does NOT protect.

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/factsheets/factsheets2005/listeriacommonlyaske3115.cfm

The fact that it CAN survive however doesn't mean it actually poses a risk however.

Listeria can survive in so many places, including the inside of our refrigerators.

The review I've done of all the studies of cheese safety studies and in books about cheesemaking and cheese safety actually have only the Mexican-type cheeses and mold ripened cheeses ever having actually caused illnesses with pregnant women that are threatening.

edited to add:

I'm really tired of the government, and the medical industry getting pregnant women so worked up about things like Feta cheese, when in the past 30 yrs in Canada and the USA, there hasn't been one single woman who was reported to have gotten Listeria from Feta cheese.

[Trinitty]

CHEESE IS FINE.

Unless you seek out a really specialised deli and select NON-PASTURIZED MILK cheese, you have nothing to worry about.

Soft, hard, doesn't matter, as long as it is pasturized.

Trin.

[bluepetals]

IMO, as a hobby cheesemaker, nothing is wrong with fresh, uncooked feta anyways.

Feta lives in brine. Brine kills bad germs.

:).

Cooked feta is definitely safe!

Btw, this pasturized/unpasturized thing is pointless IMO.

ALL cheeses aged less that 60 days in the US are required by law to be pasturized.

The cheeses that actually hold a potential risk of listeria are the bloom-mold-ripened cheeses [think Brie] and in studies done about milk and cheese safety, unpasturized vs pasturized for these cheeses is not the issue...BOTH pasturized and unpasturized mold-ripened cheeses have the same risk.

At the same time, UNpasturized hard cheeses such as cheddars and parmesans are actually safer than pasturized cheeses in the studies.


As someone who has read extensively on cheese safety, and makes cheese, I won't eat the bloom ripened mold cheeses . I WILL eat every other kind of cheese.

Except for the Mexican-factory produced cheeses, these are actually the only ones in the US and Canada that actually have had cases of Listeria in the past 30 yrs that have been bad for pregnant women.

Thanks for posting that, it was really helpful! For whatever reason I have been slipping feta in here and there (I was thinking that the brine must be pretty non-supportive of bacterial growth, it is salty!) but I put an all-out ban on Brie and Camembert and those types of cheese during pregnancy. Apparently my gut instinct on it was pretty good, LOL!

[FiberLover]

Oh, and here's a good article to read about generalized cheese safety and studies and the cheesemakers:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-115407498.html

[lovingmommyhood]

:drool How dare you mention feta cheese?

:lol I LOVE feta and have eaten GOBS of it with all three pregnancies. Haven't had any problems yet. My rule of thumb is as long as it's pasteurized it's fine. And delicious...

[NatureMama3]

psst. that article was from Australia. :)

[rach03]

Thanks for all the info guys! :)

[ZoeyZoo]

The issue is with raw cheeses and lunch meats. Cooks cheese is fine.

[sapphire_chan]

As someone who has read extensively on cheese safety, and makes cheese, I won't eat the bloom ripened mold cheeses . I WILL eat every other kind of cheese.

Except for the Mexican-factory produced cheeses, these are actually the only ones in the US and Canada that actually have had cases of Listeria in the past 30 yrs that have been bad for pregnant women.
:( I miss blue cheese.

[rach03]

Aw man, is blue cheese a bloom ripened mold cheese? I've had a couple burgers with crumbled blue cheese on them but I did check to see if the blue cheese was pasteurized first.

Darn...I guess no more blue cheese burgers for me.

[sapphire_chan]

Aw man, is blue cheese a bloom ripened mold cheese? I've had a couple burgers with crumbled blue cheese on them but I did check to see if the blue cheese was pasteurized first.

Darn...I guess no more blue cheese burgers for me.
Actually, I don't know. It's a mold cheese though, clearly... off to Google....

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/nutrition/foodsafety/cheeseexpert/

Blue cheese is a "blue-veined cheese"

[FiberLover]

Actually, I don't know. It's a mold cheese though, clearly... off to Google....

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/nutrition/foodsafety/cheeseexpert/

Blue cheese is a "blue-veined cheese"

Cheesemaking knowledge comes in handy :).

Blue cheese is a blue-veined cheese, it isn't technically mold-ripened, but the same molds are used in the processing (the molds are safe).

Basically, the risk of contamination in blue cheese is that it gets handled a lot when its being cured and aged.

They have to poke holes to encourage the mold to grow in the veins, etc., and the risk of listeria goes up with extra handling in this case.

HOWEVER. I would eat blue cheese from a small artisanal dairy/creamery, where #1, the milk itself is likely from a safe source, and #2, things are likely done very carefully. I wouldn't eat mass produced, on the shelf forever, pre-crumbled blue cheeses though, this is where IMO the contamination and bacterial growth would be.

In the listeria cases, all the cases involving non-Mexican type cheeses were from large scale operations where the contamination factor would likely have been avoided if you were talking about a small operation cheesemaker who pays great attention to detail and quality.

So, honestly, if you've eaten burgers with it, and you're fine now? You're fine!

And, seriously. There are also NO reported cases of listeria in the last 30 yrs from blue cheeses in the US and Canada, so take what you want from this. :)

I love cheese.

And for me, knowledge is the power to eat cheese, and stay safe.

[rach03]

Thanks FiberLover! I'm pretty sure those restaurants I had the burgers at slapped some Kraft blue cheese crumbles on there :D

That's interesting about how they make the mold grow in the veins. I do love cheeses, I should learn more about them.

I'm glad to see you are doing well! :)

[FiberLover]

Thanks FiberLover! I'm pretty sure those restaurants I had the burgers at slapped some Kraft blue cheese crumbles on there :D

That's interesting about how they make the mold grow in the veins. I do love cheeses, I should learn more about them.

I'm glad to see you are doing well! :)

I'm glad you're doing well too!

When you start learning about cheese, there is SO much out there, I love it. I even considered moving and taking a true Afiinage and Fromagerie course once....

[DoulaSarah]

Well, I guess I am going to get lysteria from my husbands raw milk yogurt. Yum!

[calpurnia]

Since I read this:

There were only 108 reported cases of listeria in 1992 [in the UK], of which 25 were pregnancy related, and led to three miscarriages

in Kate Mosse's Becoming A Mother, I figured it's not something to worry unduly over & have been eating all cheeses all the way through pregnancy.

[DiannaK]

:( I miss blue cheese.

well .... I've probably eaten enough of it this PG for both of us!!

[Qestia]

Since I read this:



in Kate Mosse's Becoming A Mother, I figured it's not something to worry unduly over & have been eating all cheeses all the way through pregnancy.

I came across some similar stats for the US when I was pregnant with my son, and decided to completely ignore any warnings about cheese, and instead worry about things where the odds of an actual bad outcome are higher. I think the worry-mongering for pregnant women is frankly getting a bit out of hand.

[MonP'titBoudain]

I came across some similar stats for the US when I was pregnant with my son, and decided to completely ignore any warnings about cheese, and instead worry about things where the odds of an actual bad outcome are higher.

Yeah, like ending up with a cesarean section in a hospital birth (30%-40% odds depending on where you birth).

I love cheese and have been eating some locally produced raw cheddar this whole pregnancy. It's super yummy :D

[LaffNowCryLater]

I've been eating it on pizzas and in calzones. I even asked for extra feta :lol