Can I eat Cheese?

Most cheese is safe during pregnancy. Hard cheeses (cheddar, parmesan, Swiss) are always safe. Soft cheeses (brie, camembert, feta) are safe IF made from pasteurized milk — check labels. Avoid unpasteurized soft cheese.

A "Use Caution" rating means this food is generally fine during pregnancy but comes with a specific factor worth managing — a daily limit, a preparation requirement, or a moderation guideline — rather than a reason to avoid it outright. These ratings reflect general guidance from the FDA, ACOG, CDC, and USDA. The goal of the "caution" label is to flag what to pay attention to, not to suggest the food is unsafe when that factor is properly managed.

Always check labels for "pasteurized milk." Hard cheeses are always safe. For soft cheeses, only eat pasteurized varieties. When in doubt, choose hard cheese.

Pasteurization is the key safety factor for dairy in pregnancy. Unpasteurized ("raw") milk and cheeses made from it can carry Listeria, which is able to cross the placenta and is considered especially dangerous during pregnancy. Soft cheeses like brie, feta, blue cheese, and queso fresco are safe as long as the label confirms they're made with pasteurized milk — most cheese sold in US grocery stores is. For eggs, the main concern is Salmonella from undercooked yolks or whites, so eggs should be cooked until both the yolk and white are firm, and raw-egg preparations (homemade mayonnaise, cookie dough, raw batter) should use pasteurized eggs or be avoided. Dairy is also a key source of calcium and protein during pregnancy, and eggs provide choline, a nutrient linked to fetal brain development, so pasteurized versions of both are worth keeping in a regular rotation rather than limiting unnecessarily.

The caution around this food applies consistently across all three trimesters — there isn’t a specific window during pregnancy where it becomes more or less risky. The safest approach is moderation and attention to preparation or portion size throughout, rather than avoiding it in some trimesters and not others. If you’re managing a related condition, such as gestational diabetes or high blood pressure, ask your provider whether they’d recommend a stricter limit than the general guidance described here.

Beyond food-specific guidance, a few baseline food-handling habits reduce risk across everything you eat during pregnancy. These come from general FDA and USDA food-safety guidance rather than being specific to any one food, and they apply the same way in every trimester: