Is queso fresco safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about queso fresco during pregnancy?

1. Even queso fresco made with pasteurized milk has caused real Listeria outbreaks, because contamination can slip in during the cheese-making process itself. 1
2. A 2021 Listeria outbreak traced to one queso fresco brand sickened 13 people in four states, and among the four patients who were pregnant, two lost their pregnancies and one delivered prematurely. 2
3. Soft, Hispanic-style cheeses like queso fresco have caused about two-thirds of all US soft-cheese Listeria outbreaks tracked since 1998, and pregnant Hispanic women and their babies are hit the hardest. 3
4. Pregnant women get Listeria infections at roughly 13 times the rate of everyone else, which is a big part of why soft Hispanic-style cheese draws so much pregnancy food-safety attention. 4
5. Heating queso fresco until it's steaming hot all the way through, like stirred into scrambled eggs or a casserole, kills the bacteria and makes it a safe way to still enjoy it. 1

Is queso fresco safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. Cravings for tacos, salads, or other Mexican-inspired dishes often start early, so it's a good time to get in the habit of checking labels for the word pasteurized before queso fresco lands on your plate.
• Second trimester. The risk doesn't go down as pregnancy goes on, so keep skipping unlabeled queso fresco through the second trimester too, especially from delis, food trucks, or a homemade batch from someone else's kitchen.
• Third trimester. Close to delivery, a Listeria infection can reach your baby right around birth, so call your provider quickly if you get a sudden fever, chills, or muscle aches after eating soft cheese you're unsure about.