Can I Eat Gorgonzola Cheese During Pregnancy?

If you’re pregnant, you probably want to take every precaution to ensure a healthy baby, including being careful about the foods you eat. While cheese serves as a good source of calcium and protein, soft and semi-soft cheeses like gorgonzola can sometimes cause harm to an unborn baby. Talk to your doctor about the risks of soft cheeses and which types to avoid during pregnancy.

History

Soft cheeses first became a cause for concern in the 1980s, when they were associated with an outbreak of listeriosis, a disease caused by the listeria bacterium. According to Elliot T. Ryser and Elmer H. Marth in their book, “Listeria, Listerosis and Food Safety,” the most significant outbreak of listeriosis occurred in 1985 in Los Angeles. The outbreak, which occurred over the course of eight months, included 142 cases of listeriosis, 93 of whom were pregnant women. Among the pregnant women, there was a 32 percent fatality rate. All of these were fetal deaths or neonatal deaths. A type of Mexican-style soft cheese was suspected to be the cause, Ryser and Marth noted.

Theories/Speculation

According to Baby Center, the link between soft cheeses and listeria infection is related to the use of unpasteurized milk in cheese production. Also known as “raw” milk, unpasteurized milk can carry the listeria monocytogenes bacterium as well as various other disease-causing organisms. Pregnant women are more than 20 times more likely to be infected by listeria than other adults, reports Baby Center. You should also avoid unpasteurized milk and any other dairy products made from it, since any unpasteurized dairy product can carry this bacteria as well as others.

Types

According to the American Pregnancy Association, several types of soft cheese can increase your risk of developing listeria infection. These cheeses include Brie, camembert, roquefort, feta, gorgonzola and Mexican-style cheeses that include queso blanco and queso fresco. Talk to your doctor prior to eating any of these cheeses during pregnancy. Because listeria can cross the placenta when it enters your body, it can infect your baby and cause blood poisoning, reports the American Pregnancy Association.