Most goat cheese is safe during pregnancy, but the answer depends on two things: whether the cheese is made from pasteurized milk and whether it’s a soft or hard variety. Hard goat cheeses are generally safe regardless of milk type. Soft goat cheese is safe when it’s made from pasteurized milk and isn’t surface-ripened.
What Makes Some Goat Cheese Risky
The concern with cheese during pregnancy centers on Listeria, a type of bacteria that can cause serious complications including miscarriage, preterm labor, and stillbirth. Pregnant women are significantly more susceptible to Listeria infection than the general population.
Soft cheeses are higher in moisture and lower in acidity than hard cheeses. That combination creates an environment where Listeria can grow. Fresh, soft cheeses that haven’t gone through a significant aging process are the most vulnerable to contamination because aging helps kill the bacteria naturally over time. When those soft cheeses are also made from unpasteurized (raw) milk, the risk goes up further since pasteurization is the primary step that eliminates harmful bacteria before the cheese is even made.
Which Goat Cheeses Are Safe
Here’s a practical breakdown of what’s considered safe and what to avoid:
- Hard goat cheese: Safe. The low moisture content makes it difficult for bacteria to survive. Most health professionals consider both pasteurized and unpasteurized hard goat cheeses safe during pregnancy. A simple test: if the cheese doesn’t indent when you press it with your finger, it’s a hard cheese.
- Soft goat cheese (chèvre) made from pasteurized milk: Safe, as long as it isn’t surface-ripened. Most soft goat cheese sold in U.S. grocery stores is pasteurized. Check the label.
- Soft goat cheese made from unpasteurized milk: Not recommended. This includes many artisanal, farmstead, or imported varieties.
- Surface-ripened goat cheese: Not recommended, even if pasteurized. Surface-ripened varieties have a white, bloomy rind (similar to Brie) and carry a higher contamination risk because bacteria can be introduced during the ripening process.
How to Read the Label
In the United States, cheese labels are required to state whether the product is made from pasteurized or unpasteurized milk. Look for the word “pasteurized” in the ingredients list. If the label says “raw milk” or doesn’t mention pasteurization at all, treat it as unpasteurized. Imported goat cheeses from farmers’ markets or specialty shops are the ones most likely to be unpasteurized, so pay closer attention to those.
Cooking Makes Unpasteurized Cheese Safer
If you have a soft or unpasteurized goat cheese you’d like to eat, heating it to an internal temperature of 165°F (or until it’s steaming hot) kills Listeria and other harmful bacteria. The CDC lists this as a safer choice for pregnant women. That means goat cheese melted on a pizza, baked into a tart, or stirred into a hot pasta dish is a reasonable option even if the cheese started out as a riskier variety. The key is that the cheese needs to be heated through, not just warmed on the surface.
Signs of Listeria Infection
Listeria infection in pregnant women is often mild, and some pregnant women never develop symptoms at all. When symptoms do appear, they typically include fever, muscle aches, and fatigue, which can easily be mistaken for the flu. Intestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea can show up within 24 hours of eating contaminated food and usually resolve in one to three days. The more serious, invasive form of the illness typically starts within two weeks of exposure.
The danger isn’t so much to the pregnant person, whose symptoms are usually manageable, but to the pregnancy itself. Listeria can cross the placenta and reach the baby even when the mother’s symptoms are mild or absent. That’s the reason the guidelines around soft cheese exist in the first place. If you’ve eaten a cheese you’re unsure about and develop fever or flu-like symptoms, let your healthcare provider know what you ate and when.
Nutritional Value During Pregnancy
Goat cheese is a good source of calcium and protein, both of which are in higher demand during pregnancy. Some people find goat cheese easier to digest than cow’s milk cheese because the fat globules in goat milk are smaller, and it contains slightly less lactose. If you tolerate it well, there’s no reason to avoid the safe varieties. It fits easily into salads, grain bowls, sandwiches, and cooked dishes where it can serve as a regular part of your prenatal diet.