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I just finished preparing a wedding today and one of the specs was that the bride (who is pregnant) was unable to eat certain types of cheese. Goat cheese, Brie, and Camembert were all no-no's but hard cheeses were OK.

I should know why and I suppose I could google the info also but I'd prefer to put it to the floor. Why could this lady only eat certain types of cheese? I'm assuming the fact that she is pregnant holds a clue.

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    There's actually a perfectly sensible answer here that has nothing to do with pregnancy: hard cheeses have less lactose, so someone lactose intolerant might not be able to eat any of the soft fresh ones, but be fine with hard aged ones.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 5:32
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    Also, I'm not entirely sure I agree that this is off topic - asking about dietary restrictions helps understand them and plan meals for people. (Obviously the best answer is always just to ask the person, but sometimes like in this case that's not practical.) But I don't think I want to open any cans of worms on meta just now.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 5:35
  • In light of the reopen vote, I just want to state why I voted to close. The main reason I voted to close is because how the question is framed. To me it seems as though the question can't be answered without speculation. There's no specific reason why one pregnant woman is unable to eat soft cheeses while another can. It could be personal preference, it could be just that woman's specific intolerance. Whatever the case, this question can't be reasonably answered in its current form without perhaps some input from the specific woman involved which of course makes this a bit too localized.
    – Jay
    Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 18:32
  • @Jay If the question is on-topic and answerable if slightly re-framed, then shouldn't it be edited to do the necessary re-framing rather than closed?
    – Theodore Murdock
    Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 19:23
  • @Jay,my inicial question was why can someone eat hard cheese and not soft,the fact that the person invloved was pregnant I thought might have something to do with it but what I was looking for was info on perhaps the difference between the two cheeses, perhaps one has a higher content of ??? and is therefor not good for some people who react badly to that component or ingredient, to have closed the question is one thing, to rename the question to as is done above is misleading and wasnt my inicial question
    – chefsambob
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 23:28

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Everybody has different rules for what pregnant women should and should not eat, and you definitely should clarify with the individual.

Usually the concern with cheese is over bacteria. The typical rule about cheese is to avoid softer, raw milk cheeses for fear of listeria, which can affect the baby.

There is more information here: http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/listeria.html

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  • Thanks for both your comments and answers and it would apear that may be more than one reason for this persons intolerence to soft cheese, I can go back to work today now and discuss and explain to our staff the reasons why this person was unable to eat this food.
    – chefsambob
    Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 9:31
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    On the topic being closed,I was quite surprised, I was under the impression that this forum was for food related matters that would enhance our shared knowledege of the business we love, as a chef with 25 years experience recipies is something I dont need, but the knowledge and experience of other interested people like you about important food related issues I am not fully upto scratch with would be very benificial!I will take into consideration my wording of the question however the next time
    – chefsambob
    Commented Jun 1, 2013 at 9:38
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    @chefsambob - This is a potential food safety concern. I have brought up the question for further discussion here. I also listed some further links there that may give you some helpful information.
    – Athanasius
    Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 15:47

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