Moldy cheese on your grilled cheese sandwich—is it harmful?
So there’s a big chunk of cheese in your fridge, you’re craving a grilled cheese sandwich and just as you start slicing, you spot a small blue-and-white circle on the side of the cheese. What now? Throwing a big lump of cheese in the green bin seems like a waste, but eating something moldy doesn’t sound like such a healthy idea either. Although, gorgonzola is cheese with mold too, right?
Mold on your cheese
So the question is: if there’s mold on your cheese, is it immediately the end of the road for the cheese? Or the beginning of a day of stomach cramps and green nausea for you if you simply eat it? Time to use your head and check the Consumentenbond website, because they looked into this ages ago—we hope not through trial and error in the company cafeteria, but that’s beside the point.
Some cheeses are okay
Mold on your cheese is a sign of spoilage, they say bluntly. Well, obviously. A sandwich with fluffy spots goes straight into the trash, and fruit with grimy little dents doesn’t last long either: get rid of it! But cheese is an exception, we learn online.
Hard cheeses are no problem
If it’s Gouda, or another hard cheese such as Edam, Parmesan or a lovely piece of very old crumbly cheese, you can cut away the moldy spots generously and… simply eat the cheese. Don’t take weeks to do it, though—eat it as soon as possible: grilled cheese sandwiches for the whole family, and grate the leftover bit over your lasagna.
Soft cheeses: watch out!
It’s a different story with grated cheese from a bag: if you see something blue shining through the plastic, it’s done and over. Mold spreads easily through that loose structure to all the cheese. The same goes for soft cheeses such as cream cheese, herb cheese and mascarpone.
A shame, but unfortunately moldy cheese can contain toxic substances that cause food poisoning. And if a day of vomiting doesn’t put you off: those molds may even be carcinogenic.
Pure wisdom
Don’t let anyone tell you that you learn nothing from the internet, because this piece of wisdom is certainly useful. And now quickly make the best grilled cheese sandwich of all time.
Read more:
- My mother’s apple pie is the best, according to everyone
- What happens if you eat mold?
- What on earth is in a cheese soufflé?
Source: Consumentenbond
