Are raw milk cheese aged 60 days safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about raw milk cheese aged 60 days during pregnancy?

1. Listeria survived well past the 60-day mark in laboratory cheese ripening, remaining detectable through day 160 for two strains in raw milk cheese, and it died off more slowly in raw milk cheese than in cheese made from pasteurized milk. 1
2. Those same researchers concluded plainly that making cheese from raw milk carries a listeria risk, and recommended active measures to hold the organism in check rather than relying on ripening alone. 1
3. A survey of 245 raw milk cheese samples found no salmonella and no listeria, but did find E. coli in 8.2 percent and staphylococcal enterotoxins in 1.2 percent, so a clean listeria result is not the same as a clean bill of health. 2
4. Unpasteurized milk and raw milk products sit on the short list of foods named as listeria sources in pregnancy, and the standing advice is to choose cheeses labeled as made from pasteurized milk. 3
5. Pregnancy carries a crude listeriosis incidence roughly 10 to 100 times that of the general population, with fetal loss in at least 25 percent of documented cases. 4

Is raw milk cheese aged 60 days safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. First-trimester listeriosis carries the highest chance of loss, so this is the worst window to make an exception for a favorite aged cheese. Most of what you love has a pasteurized equivalent that tastes close enough for nine months.
• Second trimester. This is when cheese boards start reappearing at events. Aged raw milk cheeses are common at good cheese counters and are usually labeled, since US producers have to declare it. Read the label rather than assuming hard means pasteurized.
• Third trimester. The same answer holds through delivery. If you have been eating aged raw milk cheese without realizing it, mention it at your next visit, watch for fever or flu-like symptoms, and switch to pasteurized going forward.