Feeling like cheesecake? You might wish to read the ingredients list before you start eating.
Watch out for components like raw eggs and unpasteurized cheeses if you’re expecting. These foods might contain bacteria that might harm you and your unborn child.
Cheesecake is generally safe. But to be certain, review the information below. We’ll go over the risks, safe consumption practices, and symptoms of food poisoning so you may enjoy cheesecake during pregnant.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
✅ Cheesecake is safe to eat when expecting.
✅ To be sure your cake is made using pasteurized ingredients, just make sure to read the label while you’re out to dine or buy something.
✅ If you’re cooking cheesecake at home, use pasteurized ingredients and cook the eggs completely.
✅ If you want a tasty treat with a lower risk of foodborne illness but are still concerned, try non-dairy options.
Cheesecakes that are safe to eat while pregnant
Cheesecake can be made in numerous ways. Some techniques entail baking. Others can be rapidly prepared without having to cook. Even non-dairy versions can be created using nuts or vegan cream cheese.
the most typical varieties of cheesecake
New YorkCheesecake. Milk cheese, heavy cream or sour cream, eggs, sugar, and cream cheese are the usual ingredients. Similar, but typically lighter and flavored with various ingredients and fillers is “regular” cheesecake. Both varieties are baked in an oven with a graham cracker or cookie crumb crust.
Cheesecake without baking. Before eating, this is combined and chilled. It might employ gelatin as a stabilizer in place of eggs. And you might come across recipes that use anything from sour cream to whipped cream to condensed milk to give it taste.
Cheesecake that is vegan. Tofu, soaked cashews, and coconut milk, or even vegan cream cheese, can all be used to make it. Either it is cooked or just chilled.
There are cheesecakes that don’t start with cream cheese. Ricotta or mascarpone, for instance, might taste great in the spotlight. You can also make cheesecake with various soft kinds of cheese, such as farmer’s cheese, cottage cheese, or requeijo, to mention a few, depending on where you reside or your cultural background.
The majority of these cheesecake varieties can theoretically be prepared safely.
The key? Whichever recipe you choose, be sure it calls for pasteurized dairy products such as cheeses and creams. Additionally, if eggs are listed as an ingredient, you should make sure the cake has been baked so you aren’t eating them raw.
What about cheesecakes from shops or restaurants?
In the freezer department of your neighborhood grocery shop, you’ll discover a lot of cheesecakes that were produced with pasteurized ingredients. For instance, pasteurized milk and cream cheese are used to make well-known cheesecake under the Sarah Lee brand.
Other brands using materials that have been pasteurized include, but are not limited to:
- Original The Cheesecake Factory Frozen
- No-Bake Philadelphia Cheesecake Filling
- New York-style cheesecake from Archer Farms
- Cheesecake with whipped cream from Edwards
Follow all cooking/thawing directions to ensure that the food reaches the proper internal temperature before serving.
Simply ask your server at a restaurant whether the kitchen can provide you with additional information about the cheesecake’s ingredients. Consider ordering another dessert if they can’t guarantee that the ingredients are pasteurized and thoroughly cooked.
Types of cheesecake to stay away from while pregnant
Again, eating cheesecake produced with raw milk or raw eggs is the main cause for concern. If you bought cheesecake, it may be challenging to watch out for undercooked cheesecake. When you go out to dine, you might or might not be able to receive all these details.
Why are some ingredients that are not safe?
Here is some basic vocabulary:
- Unpasteurized dairy products (milk, cheeses, cream, etc.) are essentially uncooked and can harbor hazardous bacteria like Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella.
- Pasteurization is a heating process that renders milk and eggs safe for ingestion by eradicating various kinds of bacteria.
You can purchase pasteurized milk and cheese at the majority of grocery stores. Many cheesecake recipes start with cream cheese, which has a soft texture. But it isn’t regarded as soft cheese. It is typically a cheese spread that has been pasteurized.
Pasteurization is optional for soft cheeses like camembert, brie, and queso fresco. Additionally, you must carefully read labels (search for “produced with pasteurized milk”); alternatively, you can inquire at specialized cheese shops or farmers’ markets.
If you purchase any additional dairy ingredients for cheesecakes at an American grocery store, such as sour cream, heavy cream, or whipped cream, they are very certainly pasteurized as well.
Opinions on eggs? Salmonella bacteria may be present in raw eggs. In items like raw cookie dough, hollandaise sauce, Caesar salad dressing, and — yes — any cheesecake recipes that don’t include baking eggs completely, experts warn avoiding consuming raw eggs while pregnant.
Should you make cheesecake at home?
You might not consider the likelihood of getting sick to be very high. However, there are about 2,500 instances of listeriosis recorded in America each year, with pregnancy accounting for one-third of these occurrences. And in about 1 in 5 of those situations, the infection leads to death.
Always use fresh, pasteurized ingredients when cooking cheesecake at home from reputable sources, like your grocery store. Ask the person in charge of the farm stand or market if you have any questions regarding the availability of a certain cheese or egg. Use caution when using ingredients that might not have been pasteurized.
Temperature is also important. To ensure the eggs are properly cooked while baking cheesecake, aim for an internal temperature of 160°F. A cheap baking thermometer is available online or at most big-box retailers.
Additional considerations for cheesecake
While the proportions and components of cheesecake vary, a 100-gram serving of a cake you might discover in the frozen foods section of the supermarket weighs:
- 350 kcal
- Total carbohydrates: 20.3 grams
- Fat: 27.6 grams
- Protein: 4.9 grams
The phrase “all things in moderation” is a wise guideline for pregnant women’s diets. Even though you may not be eating enough to satisfy two people, when hunger and cravings are strong, it may feel as though you are.
Cheesecake isn’t the worst dish in the world, but it does include a lot of sugar and saturated fats, so you probably shouldn’t eat it too frequently.
When carrying a single child, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises gaining between 11 and 40 pounds. Your exact gain recommendation is based on your initial BMI (BMI). The recommended weight increase is larger for twin pregnancies than for singleton pregnancies.
According to ACOG, you can receive the extra 300 calories per day (or 600 for twins) you need to fuel your pregnancy.
What the study finds
Too much added sugar during pregnancy may have detrimental consequences on the developing brain of your unborn child. In a 2018 study, researchers evaluated the sugar intake of 1,234 mother-and-child pairs during pregnancy and the early years of life.
Babies and early children who consumed more sugar (particularly, 49.8 grams or more per day) tended to do worse on cognitive tests.
Positively, this same study found that children’s brains were actually fed by fruit diet. Therefore, think about adding some fresh fruit to the top of your cheesecake if you’re eating it (in moderation, of course).
Indications that the cheesecake you ate was dangerous
After consuming cheesecake produced with questionable components, you might not immediately feel ill. Additionally, not all unpasteurized or raw products will invariably include listeria or other bacteria.
If you do become ill, symptoms should appear one to four weeks after consuming infected food. (However, in other instances, symptoms could not appear for an astounding 70 days after exposure!)
If you are worried, there are a few indications you should watch out for. The most typical symptoms of food poisoning are fever and diarrhea, both of which may be present. If you only have mild symptoms, you might not even be aware that you’re ill.
On the other hand, invasive listeriosis is a far more dangerous condition. It occurs when harmful bacteria travel from one area of your body to another through the blood. You could have flu-like symptoms, including fever, exhaustion, and aches in your muscles.
The fact that listeriosis may raise your chance of miscarriage, stillbirth, and other issues, such as premature birth or illnesses in your newborn child, is even more worrisome.
With or without symptoms, if you have a suspicion that you may have consumed dangerous cheesecake, you should think about calling your doctor to voice your worries and find out what to do next.