During pregnancy, you should avoid soft cheeses made from unpasteurized milk, mold-ripened soft cheeses (even pasteurized ones), queso fresco-style cheeses, and blue-veined cheeses. The concern is Listeria, a type of bacteria that pregnant women are about 10 times more likely to contract than other healthy adults. About 1 in 25,000 pregnant women in the U.S. get a Listeria infection each year, and 1 in 4 of those infections results in pregnancy loss or newborn death.
Why Cheese Is a Risk During Pregnancy
Listeria is unusual among foodborne bacteria because it can grow at refrigerator temperatures. Most bacteria slow down or stop multiplying in cold environments, but Listeria thrives in them. This makes ready-to-eat refrigerated foods like soft cheese particularly risky, since you’re eating them cold without any cooking step to kill the bacteria.
Pregnancy changes your immune system in ways that make it harder to fight off infections. That’s why the risk of listeriosis jumps so dramatically compared to the general population. The infection can cross the placenta and reach the baby even if your own symptoms are mild, sometimes just a fever and body aches that feel like the flu.
Cheeses to Avoid
The cheeses that pose the most risk fall into a few categories. Understanding which group a cheese belongs to matters more than memorizing a list, since you’ll encounter unfamiliar names at restaurants and grocery stores.
Mold-Ripened Soft Cheeses
These are cheeses with a soft white rind on the outside, ripened by mold that gives them their creamy texture. They’re risky regardless of whether they’re made from pasteurized milk. The FDA estimates that raw and surface-ripened soft cheeses are 50 to 160 times more likely to be contaminated with Listeria than regular pasteurized cheeses. The list includes:
- Brie
- Camembert
- Blue Brie
- Cambozola
- Taleggio
- Pont l’Évêque
- Vacherin
The moist, low-acid environment inside these cheeses, combined with their rind, creates ideal conditions for Listeria growth. Pasteurization of the milk alone doesn’t eliminate this risk because contamination can happen after the cheese is made.
Queso Fresco and Similar Fresh Cheeses
The CDC singles out queso fresco-type cheeses as risky whether they’re made from pasteurized or unpasteurized milk. This includes queso fresco, queso blanco, and requesón. These fresh, soft, high-moisture cheeses are especially prone to contamination. Outbreaks of Listeria in the U.S. have been repeatedly linked to queso fresco-style products.
Blue-Veined Cheeses
Soft blue cheeses like Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and Danish blue fall into the avoid category. The veins of mold running through these cheeses create internal surfaces where Listeria can grow. The combination of high moisture and mold ripening puts them in the same risk category as Brie and Camembert.
Any Unpasteurized Soft Cheese
Soft cheese made from raw milk of any kind, whether cow, goat, or sheep, should be avoided. Raw milk hasn’t been heat-treated to kill bacteria, and the soft, moist texture of these cheeses lets any contamination multiply. Check labels for the word “pasteurized.” If the label doesn’t say it, or if you’re at a farmers market or specialty shop where labeling is unclear, skip it.
Deli-Sliced Cheese
Cheese sliced at a deli counter is also on the CDC’s riskier choice list unless you heat it until it’s steaming. Deli slicers and surfaces can harbor Listeria, and cross-contamination from deli meats (another common Listeria source) is a real concern.
Cheeses That Are Safe to Eat
The good news is that most cheese you’ll find at the grocery store is perfectly fine. Hard cheeses have low moisture levels that make it very difficult for harmful bacteria to survive. Most health professionals consider both pasteurized and unpasteurized hard cheeses safe during pregnancy. You can tell a hard cheese from a soft one with a simple test: if pressing your finger into it doesn’t leave a dent, it’s hard cheese.
Safe options include cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyère, Swiss, Gouda, and Manchego. Processed cheese and shelf-stable cheese spreads are also fine.
Many common soft cheeses are safe too, as long as they’re pasteurized and not surface-ripened. Cream cheese, cottage cheese, ricotta, and mozzarella all fall into this category. Pasteurized feta is also considered safe. In the U.S., most commercially sold versions of these cheeses use pasteurized milk, but it’s worth confirming on the label.
Goat and Sheep Cheese
The same rules apply to goat and sheep milk cheeses as to cow milk cheeses. Pasteurized hard goat cheese like aged chèvre or goat Gouda is safe. Soft, surface-ripened goat cheese with a white rind (which looks similar to Brie) should be avoided, even if pasteurized. Fresh, crumbly goat cheese made from pasteurized milk and without a mold rind is generally considered safe.
Cooking Makes Risky Cheeses Safe
Heat kills Listeria. If a normally off-limits cheese is cooked to 165°F, or until steaming hot all the way through, it’s safe to eat. This means Brie baked in puff pastry, blue cheese melted into a hot sauce, or queso fresco heated on a pizza can all be fine, as long as the cheese is genuinely hot throughout and not just slightly warmed on top.
The key word is “steaming.” A slice of Brie sitting on a warm sandwich that was briefly microwaved doesn’t count. The cheese needs to be visibly bubbling or steaming to be sure it reached a safe temperature. If you’re at a restaurant and can’t confirm how thoroughly a dish was heated, it’s better to choose something else.
How to Check a Label
Look for the word “pasteurized” on the ingredient list or packaging. In the U.S., the FDA requires that any cheese made from unpasteurized milk be aged for at least 60 days before sale, which rules out most fresh soft cheeses from raw milk on store shelves. But imported cheeses, artisan products, and cheese from farmers markets may not follow the same rules. When in doubt, the label is your best guide. If there’s no label, ask the seller directly whether the milk was pasteurized, and whether the cheese is surface-ripened.