What risks do soft cheeses and ready-to-eat meats pose?
Certain soft cheeses, ready-to-eat meats (including packaged luncheon meats and deli meats) and unpasteurized milk (and products made from it) can cause a form of food poisoning called listeriosis. Listeriosis results from contamination by a bacterium (Listeria monocytogenes) and is especially dangerous during pregnancy. When a pregnant woman is infected with listeriosis, she may have a miscarriage, premature delivery or stillbirth, or her newborn baby may become seriously ill and may die. Most people do not become ill when they eat listeria-contaminated foods. However, pregnant women are 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis and more likely to become dangerously ill from it. Listeriosis often starts with a flu-like illness with fever, muscle aches, chills and, sometimes, nausea or diarrhea. However, it can progress to a potentially life-threatening meningitis (infection of the membranes covering the brain, with symptoms such as severe headache and stiff nec
