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From: jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: Mold on swiss cheese slices.
Message-ID: <525@rtech.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 3-Jul-85 04:17:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: rtech.525
Posted: Wed Jul  3 04:17:00 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Jul-85 05:35:15 EDT
References: <675@spuxll.UUCP> <522@rtech.UUCP> <427@mtxinu.UUCP>
Organization: Relational Technology, Alameda CA
Lines: 28

> >> I just bought an 8 oz package of sliced swiss cheese.
> >> When I opened it, I found the upper edges all covered with mold.
> >> Does anyone know if this signifies that the cheese is or is not
> >> safe to eat?  Doesn't it signify that the cheese was mis-handled
> >> somewhere, like perhaps being left without refrigeration?
> >
> >Some molds are safe to eat, and some are quite toxic.
> 
> Generally, the molds found on cheeses are the same molds that made the
> cheese.
> -- 
> Ed Gould                    mt Xinu, 2910 Seventh St., Berkeley, CA  94710  USA

I should have been clearer in what I was trying to say.  It's perfectly safe
(as far as I know) to eat the white-mold rind on brie, or the blue-mold veins
in roquefort.  But if you have cheese that is growing fur, or has colors that
don't normally appear in that type of cheese (e.g. green on cheddar), then
don't eat it.  Even trimming the moldy parts off might not make it safe to eat.
The fur or colors on the surface of the cheese is only the fruiting body of the
mold; if you can see this, then the rest of the cheese could be filled with
mycelia (the main part of the mold).  I have heard that the mycelia can be
toxic.
-- 
Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.)
aka Swazoo Koolak

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