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Can I eat cheddar cheese while pregnant or breastfeeding?

Pregnant
✓ Likely safe

Hard cheeses like cheddar are lower risk. US advice (CDC) is to choose cheese made with pasteurized milk. UK advice (NHS) says hard cheese is fine even when unpasteurized.

Breastfeeding
✓ Likely safe

Hard cheeses like cheddar are lower risk. US advice (CDC) is to choose cheese made with pasteurized milk. UK advice (NHS) says hard cheese is fine even when unpasteurized.

A block of aged orange-yellow cheddar cheese with a few cut slices on a small wooden board

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How these answers are made

Oatleaf answers come from public food-safety guidance, mainly the CDC, FDA and EPA for the US and the NHS for the UK. Each answer cites the pages it relies on, and every link was opened and checked in October 2026. Where US and UK advice differ, the answer says so. Written by the Oatleaf team at Astralab Studios. It is general information, not medical advice.

Last reviewed October 2026.