There's mold on my cheese — do I toss it?Updated 5 hours ago
Mold on cheese feels like a red flag, but here's the secret: mold is so fundamental to cheesemaking that some of the world's most coveted cheeses—think blue cheese, brie, and aged camembert—are entirely built around it. In most cases, your cheese is perfectly safe to eat; you just need to know which mold to trust and which to cut away. The good news is the answer is simpler than you'd expect!
What to do:
Cheese Type | Visible Mold | Action |
Hard cheese | Small spot(s) covering less than 25% of surface | Cut away at least .5 inch around and below the mold. Keep your knife away from the mold itself to avoid spreading it. Scrape the surface with a clean knife, then re-wrap in fresh paper. |
Hard cheese | Extensive coverage or piece too small to trim safely | Toss it. |
Soft cheese | Any visible mold | If blue-green mold, the cheese is reaching the end of its prime: safe to eat or remove before eating. If covered in multi-colored molds, please take a photo to send to us and discard entirely. |
Firm cheese | Moisture or surface "funk" after opening a vacuum-sealed cheese | Moisture on the face is normal in this packaging environment. The plastic does interact with the surface of the cheese and can cause off flavors on the surface only. Scrape the surface of the cheese or slice off a thin layer from exposed surfaces—the cheese underneath is fresh and safe. |
If you find some mold towards the rind on the cheese, this is entirely normal and the cheese’s attempt to protect itself! This can be removed or scraped off and the rest of the cheese enjoyed.
And if you're ever unsure—especially if immunocompromised, pregnant, or sensitive to raw-milk cheese—discard it and contact us at [email protected]. There's no loss in being cautious.