Can I Eat Feta Cheese While Pregnant?

Soft cheeses are often listed as unsafe foods to eat during pregnancy. However, it all depends on how the cheese is processed. If you can't imagine your Greek salad without feta, you might be wondering if you can eat feta cheese while pregnant. The good news is if the feta cheese has been pasteurized, then it is generally safe to eat during pregnancy.

"Feta cheese made from unpasteurized sheep or goat milk may be contaminated with bacteria that can not only make you sick, but also can cause miscarriage," explains Bruce K. Young, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in New York City.

Eating Feta Cheese While Pregnant

As soon as you see a positive pregnancy test, you may start to wonder which cheeses are off-limits for the next nine months. After all, some foods need to be avoided when you are expecting because they pose certain risks to you and your baby.

Overall, when it comes to soft cheeses like feta, you should avoid eating any spreadable cheese that is not pasteurized. However, feta cheese made from pasteurized milk is safe to eat.

"[Avoiding unpasteurized feta] is recommended due to the risk of a bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes, which can be harmful to your unborn baby," explains Kristie Leigh, RDN, a registered dietitian and senior manager of scientific affairs at Danone North America.

Listeria food poisoning, or listeriosis, is preventable in part by avoiding raw animal products. Traditionally, soft cheeses are made from raw milk, but pasteurizing the milk will remove the listeria risk. The pasteurization process, which involves heating followed by quick cooling, will kill listeria and other bacteria.

Is Feta Cheese Safe for a Baby?

Only pasteurized feta is safe for you and your developing baby. As mentioned earlier, eating feta made with raw, unpasteurized milk puts you at risk of becoming infected with listeria. Though rare, listeria can have serious consequences for an unborn child.

This infection may cause miscarriage, especially during the early part of pregnancy. It can also lead to premature labor, low birth weight, infant death, or serious developmental problems.

Benefits of Feta Cheese During Pregnancy

Cheese is one of the most common pregnancy cravings, presumably because it offers so many important benefits. In fact, there are a number of notable health benefits to eating cheese including the calcium, protein, and even the vitamin D it provides. Here's a closer look at these benefits.

• Calcium: Calcium is one of the most important nutrients you need during pregnancy, for both you and your baby. One of the key roles of calcium is helping to build strong bones and teeth. During pregnancy, your baby will take what they need when growing and developing, so you want to make sure you have enough to keep your own bones healthy, too. Keep in mind, your body cannot make its own calcium so it is necessary to consume foods rich in it.
  
  
• Protein: Getting enough protein during pregnancy helps support fetal growth and brain development. Protein is also essential for your necessary tissue growth and blood volume expansion. Feta can be a good source of protein with 1 ounce containing about 4 grams of protein. During pregnancy, you need about 60 grams of protein per day, so try to eat meals with some meat, tofu, eggs, or beans in order to hit that target.
  
  
• Vitamin D: Eating feta cheese is a good way to get some of the vitamin D you need while you are pregnant. Vitamin D is essential for proper fetal development. In fact, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a host of problems for both moms and babies. The most notable issues include preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm labor, low birth weight, and childhood asthma. Check with your healthcare provider about how much vitamin D you need. The recommendation is generally 400-600 IU, usually taken in your prenatal vitamin. If you are extremely deficient in vitamin D, your health care provider may prescribe that you take more.

Getting enough protein during pregnancy helps support fetal growth and brain development. Protein is also essential for your necessary tissue growth and blood volume expansion.

Feta can be a good source of protein with 1 ounce containing about 4 grams of protein. During pregnancy, you need about 60 grams of protein per day, so try to eat meals with some meat, tofu, eggs, or beans in order to hit that target.

Eating feta cheese is a good way to get some of the vitamin D you need while you are pregnant. Vitamin D is essential for proper fetal development.

In fact, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a host of problems for both moms and babies. The most notable issues include preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm labor, low birth weight, and childhood asthma.

Check with your healthcare provider about how much vitamin D you need. The recommendation is generally 400-600 IU, usually taken in your prenatal vitamin. If you are extremely deficient in vitamin D, your health care provider may prescribe that you take more.

Dangers of Listeriosis From Eating Certain Cheeses

A listeria infection can cause symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Here are some of those symptoms:

• Chills
• Confusion
• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Headache
• Loss of balance
• Muscle aches
• Vomiting

In some cases, you may not experience any symptoms at all. When this happens, you can unknowingly pass the infection to your baby. Listeriosis poses a much higher danger to an unborn baby than to an adult. In fact, there is a risk of both fetal death or even infant death shortly after birth. Moreover, babies affected by listeriosis are also at an increased risk of being born prematurely or at low birth weight.