Cream cheese, mold cheese, soft or hard cheese: cheese is particularly popular.
All the more annoying when something goes moldy.
Many dairy products can be eaten unopened well past their sell-by date.
With milk, you can easily tell by taste or smell.
If the milk tastes sour or bitter, or if it flakes, it should be discarded.
Best before date exceeded: When does cheese have to go?
How about cheese?
Dealing with mold is not always easy here, as the “Too good for the bin!” initiative knows.
With the naked eye, the natural ripe mold of Roquefort or Camembert "cannot be easily distinguished from potentially toxic types of mold," the connoisseurs inform in a blog post.
They explain when it is better not to eat cheese and what, from their point of view, is harmless.
"Cream cheese, sliced cheese and softer cheeses such as Camembert or Brie should be completely disposed of if mold has developed," the article says.
Because in soft cheese, the fungal mycelium is more likely to spread into deeper layers.
"Poisonous fungal substances, such as mycotoxins, can also penetrate soft cheese better." Desired noble mold in Roquefort, Gorgonzola or Camembert is excluded.
"With hard cheeses such as Emmental, mountain cheese, cheddar, Gruyere, Comté and Parmesan, slight mold growth is no reason for the bin," the initiative also describes in the article.
"The harder the cheese is and the lower the water content, the less heedless the mold can be cut off generously (0.7-1 cm) from cheese in one piece." The surface of the cheese should be "barely yielding and also dry".
This applies in particular to all types of hard cheese, but can also apply, for example, to older Gouda that has matured for a longer period of time.
But: "If there is a severe infestation in more than one place, harder cheese should also be disposed of in one piece," is the important note according to the article.
This also applies if damp spots are visible and the cheese becomes soft.
The general rule is that the cheese should be discarded if it smells unpleasant, changes its appearance or has an unusual or greasy consistency.
Mould: cut off hard cheese – is it better to dispose of soft cheese?
The bottom line of the initiative "Too good for the bin!": Only with hard cheeses can you "cut out generously" the affected area with slight mold growth and "eat the remaining cheese without hesitation".
However, the situation is different for sliced cheese, soft cheese and cream cheese, which should be “disposed of completely at the first sign of mold growth”.
+
Cheese tastes delicious when served fresh.
Many wonder how long you can keep it afterwards.
(icon picture)
©Franci Leoncio/Imago
What foods should you not refreeze after defrosting?
What foods should you not refreeze after defrosting?
Bread crumbs can cause cheese to go moldy faster
To prevent mold from forming, cheese should be stored in separate packaging such as greaseproof paper in the middle compartment of the refrigerator, according to the tip.
You should also avoid bread crumbs sticking to the cheese - because, as the blog post goes on to say: "The yeast contained in bread causes cheese to go moldy faster."
List of rubrics: © Franci Leoncio/Imago