It’s contingent on the texture of the cheese and the amount of mold.
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Cheese gets moldy.
Is the dairy product an automatic goner?
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Or can it be salvaged and safely enjoyed?
The tricky thing is, cheese is, well, mold.
So, can you eat moldy cheese?
Clothbound Cheddars develop wave after wave of multicolored mold communities in the months they spend in the cave.
These are desired and necessary to create the final cheese.
This mold is good.
Read on for more moldy cheese tips to potentially save you time, money, and worry.
Can You Cut the Mold Out of Cheese?
Generally, when unintentional mold has grown on a cheese, it can be cut away, Windsor says.
That is, if theres new growth on the cheese you bought from the shop, its not desirable.
What Should You Do With Moldy Cheese?
Forsofter cheeses, most people discard the cheese.
This is common in artisan cheeses.
This mold can often be intended and is fine to eat.
If your hard or semi-firm cheese is covered in mold, however, toss it.
Bags ofshredded cheesewith mold in them are also goners.
What Happens If You Eat Moldy Cheese?
Best practice: If youre worried about it, dont eat it.
If you do eat unintentional mold, you may feel fine, or experience nausea or food poisoning.
Softer cheeses have a shorter shelf life, and should be purchased closer to when they will be eaten.
Storage is also important.
Plastic wrap is great for this purpose.
However, as cheese ages it creates ammonia.
If you keep a cheese wrapped in plastic for long, the ammonia gets trapped in the paste.
Cheese with naturally molded rinds, however, can be damaged by plastic wrap.
This can slow down, but not stop mold growth."
