Dairy products

Milk

Only drink pasteurised or UHT (ultra-heat treated) milk – sometimes also called long-life milk. If only unpasteurised milk is available, boil it first. Don't drink unpasteurised goats' or sheep's milk, or eat foods made from them, such as soft goats’ cheese (see cheese below).

Ice cream

Soft ice cream should be fine to eat when you're pregnant, as it's made with pasteurised milk and eggs, so the risk of salmonella food poisoning has been eliminated. For home-made ice cream, use a pasteurised egg substitute or follow an egg-free recipe.

Cheese

You can eat hard cheeses such as cheddar, parmesan and stilton, even if they're made with unpasteurised milk, but don't eat mould-ripened soft cheese, such as brie and camembert, or soft blue-veined cheeses like Danish blue, gorgonzola and roquefort.

These are less acidic and contain more moisture than hard cheeses, making them an ideal environment for harmful bacteria such as listeria to grow in. Listeria can cause an infection called listeriosis. Although listeria is rare, it is important to take special precautions because even a mild form of the illness in a pregnant woman can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth or severe illness in a new-born baby.

Thorough cooking should kill any bacteria in mould-ripened soft cheese, such as brie or camembert, soft goats' cheese (chèvre) or dishes that contain them, such as a goats' cheese tart.

Many other soft cheeses are OK to eat as they are, but make sure they're made from pasteurised milk. These include cottage cheese, mozzarella, feta, paneer, ricotta, halloumi, cream cheese and cheese spreads.