Listeria, a bacterium which causes only a mild flu-like illness in the mother may go on to cause miscarriage or severe illness in the newborn baby. It is often difficult to recognise infection with listeria because the symptoms are usually very mild and quite different to those of other types of food poisoning. They are often described as being just like a very mild dose of flu with a slightly raised temperature and a general aching. Listeria infection is thankfully very rare, affecting only 1 in 20,000 pregnancies.

The incidence has been associated with certain foods and pregnant women are therfore advised to:

• Avoid mould ripened soft cheeses, such as brie and camembert and blue-veined cheeses.
• Avoid unpasteurised milk.
• Avoid meat, fish or vegetable pâté unless it is tinned or marked pasteurised.
• Thoroughly re-heat cook-chill foods and ready-cooked poultry.

Hard cheeses, cream cheeses, cottage cheese, cheese spread, fromage frais and yogurts are all safe to eat. Please see the cheese page for a full list of cheeses to avoid and a list of those which are safe to eat.