Finding out you are pregnant is a time to celebrate. But it can also be a time when the things that you once took for granted such as what you can eat safely are no longer the same.
One of these foods is cheesecake and if you type the question into Google, you will be greeted by a huge amount of information and if we are honest most people do not have the time to go through all of it.
So to answer the question Is cheesecake safe to eat while pregnant? In a nutshell, the answer is both yes and no depending on the ingredients used in each cheesecake.
If it’s uncooked cheesecake and is made from soft cheese that has not been pasteurized, it’s unsafe.
What Makes Cheesecake Dangerous, To Begin With?
Whether or not cheesecake is safe to eat while pregnant is surrounded by lots of conflicting advice and confusion. But here are some super simple rules to follow that should help you make a safe choice no matter where you are.
Safe to eat – If cheesecake has been made with cooked eggs such as baked cheesecake.
Safe to eat – Cheesecake that doesn’t contain egg and is made from cheese made from pasteurized milk, even if the cheesecake is uncooked.
Unsafe – Uncooked cheesecake that is made with unpasteurized soft cheese.
Potential to be dangerous – Any cheesecake made with raw or unpasteurized soft cheese.
Why Is Cheesecake Dangerous?
There are two reasons why cheesecake may potentially be dangerous for pregnant women.
The first one is to do with the type of cheese used, if it is made with soft unpasteurized cheese then there is a much higher risk of it containing the bacteria listeria which causes listeriosis.
Listeria is found in soil, water, and some animals. It causes flu-like symptoms and if left untreated can cause miscarriage or preterm labor.
The second reason is if cheesecake is made with raw egg there is a higher risk of salmonella. Salmonella is a bacterium found in raw foods like meat and eggs.
Salmonella does not usually affect your baby but it will affect you. It causes symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, dehydration, headaches, and muscle pains.
It is extremely rare for it to pass to your baby, as babies are well protected while in your tummy. It would be more likely for salmonella to be passed to your baby if you still had it when you gave birth.
View in gallery
Nutritional Benefits Of Eating Cheesecake While Pregnant
Cheesecake contains simple basic ingredients, cream cheese, eggs, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla extract. There are some variations to these basic ingredients depending on the flavor of the cheesecake so the following values would be slightly different.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), one serving or one slice or one-sixth of a whole cheesecake contains 257 calories, 20g carbohydrates, 18g fat, and 4g protein.
The vast majority of the carbohydrates in cheesecake come from sugars. It is also high in saturated fat and despite the fact that it may contain fruit and a few vitamins, calcium, and protein.
It is definitely not recommended as a good source of these nutrients in pregnancy. Nutritionally, cheesecake is not a good choice while you are pregnant and should really be limited to special occasions and not a regular indulgence.
Can Women Eat Any Flavor Cheesecake While Pregnant?
When you are pregnant the main concern with consuming cheesecake is the actual filing, whether it has been baked or not, and if it contains any unpasteurized ingredients.
Some cheesecakes do contain alcohol but it is in such tiny amounts it is not considered unsafe to eat while you are pregnant. Although that does not mean you can eat any flavor cheesecake.
You still need to pay attention to fillings and toppings that are served with cheesecake.
If you haven’t made it yourself then it would be very wise to double-check what ingredients have been used in order that you can avoid any ones that pose a potential risk to you and your baby.
Can Pregnant Women Eat Cheesecake From Cheese Cake Factory?
The Cheesecake Factory sells a variety of cheesecakes that you can eat in, take away, or frozen. The Cheesecake Factory products are all baked and are made with pasteurized ingredients, so all their cheesecakes are safe for pregnant women to eat.
While this is great news if you fancy the occasional treat, it is not recommended that you eat cheesecake very often while pregnant due to its high sugar, calorie, and fat content.
FAQs
Can you eat cream cheese when pregnant?
Cream cheese is not actually a soft cheese but a cheese spread that is made with pasteurized dairy and because of this it is perfectly safe to eat while pregnant.
View in gallery
Can you eat homemade cheesecake when pregnant?
It is very much going to depend on what the ingredients are. Most cheesecakes, baked, and unbaked are made using cream cheese.
Cream cheese might appear as a soft cheese but it is in fact made with pasteurized milk so poses no threat to pregnant women. You would need to check the other ingredients in case there are raw eggs or unpasteurized cheese being used.
What are the odds of getting listeria while pregnant?
The CDC states that pregnant women are 20 times more likely to become infected with listeria than non-pregnant healthy adults, the actual cases of listeriosis in pregnant women are actually only about 17%.
How do you know if you have listeria when pregnant?
Listeriosis can cause mild, flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, muscle aches, and diarrhea, or upset stomach. You may also have a stiff neck, headache, confusion, or loss of balance.
Symptoms can appear up to 2 months after you have eaten something with Listeria. Also, many pregnant women do not have any symptoms.
What effect can listeria have on my pregnancy?
Listeria infection during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, uterine infection, and preterm delivery. Listeriosis has not been linked to a pattern of birth defects.
The Final Thought
While you are pregnant there are a lot of foods that you need to be careful when consuming or that you shouldn’t be consuming at all.
However, you may find that once you are told that you can not have something that you suddenly start to crave it.
For many foods, there are no suitable alternatives and unfortunately, you just have to put it out of your head but with cheesecake, there are plenty of safe options available to you.
If you do decide to enjoy the occasional safe piece of cheesecake you are not going to do you or your baby any harm at all – so enjoy!
