Cheese, Milk and Dairy
Pasteurised milk, butter, yoghurt, cream, ice cream, and hard cheeses such as cheddar or parmesan are all safe to eat, as are pasteurised soft cheeses like cottage cheese, mozzarella, feta, and halloumi (most supermarket dairy is pasteurised — check the packaging). Soft, mould-ripened cheeses with a white rind, such as brie or camembert, and soft blue cheeses like gorgonzola, need to be thoroughly cooked until steaming hot before eating, as does anything made from unpasteurised milk. Unpasteurised milk, cream, yoghurt and ice cream should be avoided altogether, since they can carry listeria bacteria, which can cause listeriosis — a serious infection that can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, or serious illness in a newborn.
Meat and Poultry
Chicken, pork, lamb, turkey, duck, minced meat, burgers, sausages and black pudding are all safe once thoroughly cooked with no trace of pink or blood, as are whole cuts of beef or lamb cooked well on the outside, and tinned meats. Rolled joints need cooking all the way through, and cold cooked meats, cured meats like salami or chorizo, and meat pâté should be kept chilled, eaten before their use-by date, or cooked until steaming hot. Raw or undercooked meat, liver and liver products, and game meats such as venison or pheasant should be avoided, due to risks of toxoplasmosis, high vitamin A levels, listeria, and lead exposure respectively.
Eggs
Hen eggs carrying the British Lion stamp, or produced under the Laid in Britain scheme, can be eaten raw, runny, or well-cooked. Other hen eggs, and all duck, goose or quail eggs, should only be eaten well-cooked, since non-Lion-stamped eggs carry a higher chance of salmonella, which can cause food poisoning (though it's unlikely to harm your baby directly).
