Pregnancy food checker · United States
Can I eat soft cheese while pregnant?
Soft cheese can be safe or risky depending on whether it is pasteurized and how it has been stored.
Short answer
Avoid unheated queso fresco-type cheeses. For other soft cheeses, check that the milk is pasteurized and that the cheese has been stored safely.
What matters for soft cheese
- Unpasteurized cheese can carry harmful bacteria.
- CDC advises people at higher risk for listeria to avoid unheated queso fresco-type cheeses even when pasteurized.
- Soft, high-moisture cheese needs careful storage.
What to check first
- Is it a queso fresco-type cheese?
- Does the label say pasteurized milk?
- Has it been kept refrigerated?
What Can I Eat can and cannot confirm
Can I Eat can use the food name, visible label text and details you provide to highlight relevant questions. A photo cannot confirm internal cooking temperature, storage time, hidden ingredients, pasteurization that is not shown, or restaurant handling. Check the complete label and ask the person who prepared the food when those details matter.
When to contact a clinician
Contact your prenatal clinician if you ate a food discussed here and feel unwell, have been told you have a higher-risk pregnancy, or need advice for your individual circumstances. Seek urgent medical care for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms.
Check your exact meal
Use Can I Eat before you eat
Scan a meal, label or ingredient list and get a pregnancy-aware food safety reminder before you decide what to eat.
Sources and editorial context
Can I Eat editors source-check these pages against public guidance from U.S. health authorities, keep conditional answers conditional, and identify details that still need to be checked for a specific food. This editorial process is not an individual clinician review or endorsement, and the content is general information rather than individualized medical advice.
Published by Can I Eat for readers in United States. Sources last checked 2026-08-15.
Can I Eat provides general food safety information and dietary risk reminders only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis or a replacement for your clinician.