Eating in Paris While Pregnant

I would have a type-written card, in French, saying you cannot eat unpasteurized cheese (or drink unpasteurized milk if you drink milk) and just show that to people with a smile or friendly look on your face. To be totally safe though, maybe avoiding cheese would be best.

I think you will find that much of the cheese in France is made from unpasteurized milk. The U.S. bans unpasteurized cheese unless it has been aged at least 60 days. That's part of the reason why a camembert or brie or epoisses in France tastes so much better than the same variety in the States. I believe that once a cheese has aged a certain period, the risk for listeria goes away (but I am not an expert ... just someone who has taken a couple of cheese classes at a local culinary school, so confirm with your doctor). I'm assuming that you want to try some cheese as long as it is "safe". I think you will find it fairly easy to avoid the soft cheeses in France and stick to aged cheeses. Comte is always a good choice. There are a couple of cheese guides ("The Cheese Primer" is one) if you want to educate yourself a bit before you go. You might check your local library and read up on some of the different types of cheese so you know which ones to seek out and which ones to avoid.

Maybe you could email this blogger:
http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2011/01/pregnant-in-paris.html Even though the story is about her mother's pregnancy she does blog for Conde Nast and does have a toddler. Might be able to suggest people she knows who have been to Paris while with child.

While this is an old article, it does talk about unpasteurized cheese ... http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/20/dining/the-french-resist-again-this-time-over-cheese.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Back in 1998 when this article was written, only 18% of the cheese was made from raw milk which is less than I thought.

First of all, its not that easy to inadvertantly eat unpasturized cheeses in France, they are served as a food unto themselves, not used as an ingriedient ,, there are of course exceptions,, a ham and BRIE sandwich for instance, but as noted, it would clearly state that it was a ham and Brie sandwich,, its not snuck in.. so simply order dinner items without cheese if in doubt.
Secondly french women get pregnant,, and many of them will avoid eating the cheeses also,, french medicine is not behind that of your country,, so merely stating you cannot eat cheeses because you are pregnant will do ,, no waiter is going to freak out at you ( why do Americans have such preconcieved notions). They are used to dealing with people with allergies also,, so the simple solution for you is as someone already pointed out, I assume your french is limited, so get a few cards printed out that simply say, " I am pregnant and my doctor has ordered I eat no unpasturized cheeses " A person can easily avoid any other surprises arriving on their plate by bringing a small menu translater, there are good pocket sized ones available, and very helpful even for those of us who do speak a bit of french,, since menu items can be difficult to understand if taken literally( for instance, in english, what do you think a non english speaker thinks "pigs in a blanket" or "bangers and mash" or even "ladys fingers" are?)

Should add, goat cheese is a common salad item,, served on toast points with a salad,, but it will always say that it is a salad with goat cheese since that will cost more then a plain green salad. Also , by law,, all french establisments that serve food must display their menu outside,, so it is very easy to view a menu to see if the items and prices are agreeable to you before you sit down.. a law I wish we had here.

Thanks for all your advice, everyone! This is all very helpful. I should clarify that I don't think French medicine is in any way "behind" American medicine, but rather there are some things American doctors insist you shouldn't have that doctors in other countries just don't worry about because it's part of a normal diet. For example, an Italian friend told me that she drank a glass of wine a day during her first two pregnancies, and her doctor in Italy told her that was fine. But when she had her third child in the US, her doctor here told her not to do that. I thought the same might be true with some aspects of French cuisine. If eating unpasteurized cheese turned out to be totally normal for pregnant women in France, I was afraid asking about it would seem unusual and overly picky. But you've all offered great suggestions about how to do that politely, so thanks!

I just asked my son about this. He and his wife were in Paris in October when she was 5 months pregnant. They both speak decent French. He said they asked about the cheeses each time they were offered and the waiter understood the reason for the question and answered cheerfully. Only in one rather upscale place did the waiter scold a bit, as in " of course, all of these cheeses are unpasteurized because they are the best." You could just skip the cheese course entirely, and non-cheesy dishes like seafood for your meal. I managed to spend nearly a week in Paris recently without ever seeing cheese on my plate (I do not care for cheese other than Parmagiano). But if you do want to try some, then just smile and ask, and they will understand why you are asking. Apparently French women are advised to be cautious as well, but they are not as strict about it, apparently having greater confidence in the cleanliness standards of of their cheese makers.

I had my first child in France so I can tell you French doctors are concerned about what pregnant women eat. You aren't exaggerating and you won't insult anyone. They really pamper pregnant women. It's been 35 years, so I'll have to look up everything they told us not to eat, but I do remember being told not to eat rare meat. As for cheese, it's easy enough to stick to hard rind cheesesconte, cantal, mimolette, morbier, etc. and stay away from the runny gooey ones for a few months. And without wine, it's not the same anyway. One other thing: with the new EU rules, more and more of the cheeses are pasturized. I did get sick in France last year from a soft cow's milk unpasturized cheese I bought from a neighboring farm and now can digest only hard rind and goat cheese or I get sick again. No one cares in restaurants when I take only the hard cheeses from the cheese cart. How I miss those stinkers though! As for inadvertentdo you mean cheese on an onion soup or on pasta? These are hard cheeses so should be ok. Once they've aged a certain amount of time, even the Americans sell them.

I believe the book is now out of print, but if you can get a copy of the DK book "French Cheeses" it will tell you what type of milk the cheese is made from. You could use that if you were looking to buy cheese in a grocery store, or even just as a reference for a sandwich you buy. If you are at a cheese shop, they will definitely know if it's raw or pastuerized milk. I'm not sure I'd trust the waiters in all restaurants, though. Back when there was all the e. coli problems, we weren't able to get answers from where the lettuce/produce, etc. came from at all restaurants and ended up just avoiding it.

Emily-my stepdaughter was pregnant during her trip to France. And she too thought that the recommendations for pregnant women were different for France. She did have at least one person question her but that could have also been generational as well as cultural. I was, for example, surprised that she had also been advised to not eat deli meats (here in the states) because of listeria (?) whereas I didn't have that restriction when I was pregnant. Regardless, having just enjoyed a wonderful trip full of wonderful French cheeses, if you are adamant about not eating unpasturized, then learn how to say this in French and especialy stay away from anything soft or "fresh". I will tell you that my stepdaughter found it hard enough to not drink the wine much less eat the cheese and she ended up eating some. I know my own doctor has said that the drinking thing is much more strict than science shows it needs to be but telling women they can have an "occasional" glass of wine is open to too many interpretations. Easier (and less litigious) to say No Drinking. You'll have a great time. Congratulations!

Hi Emily,
Your concern for you new baby is very well warranted. As is your concern for cultural propriety, so don't be embarrassed about expressing those concerns on this board (or anywhere, for that matter). My wife and I travelled to Germany when she was 4 months pregnant, and we had many of the same concerns. Granted, we weren't tempted hourly by the hundreds of cheeses that France offers, but we had other issues that presented concern. You've received some great advice on this thread, which I won't repeat unnecessarily, but don't worry about offending the Parisiens. My experience on many of the trips over there is you get what you send. So, if you're very polite, (the french are pretty formal, so finish everything with "please" and "thank you") as you've demonstrated in your posting, you should have no troubles. At 5 months, it should be pretty obvious that you are pregnant, so they'll understand. Enjoy your trip!