# How can I tell when my blue cheese has gone off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2004, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791 "2004-07-19T10:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/1 "2004-07-19T10:10:38Z")
Rummaging around in the fridge,I found a half-open pack of Danish Blue.It doesn’ smell odd,but it is covered in blue furry bits and mould.Since it was like that to start with,how do I know when it’s gone yeuhhh? ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/2 "2004-07-19T10:28:34Z")
Hmmmm, while I can’t answer your question, personally I wouldn’t be taking any risks with cheeses that contain live molds, like Danish Blue cheese and Camembert. No “Best before date” ??? ---
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/3 "2004-07-19T10:42:20Z")
BB’s not for a few more days.But it’s been floating round half-opened in a fridge 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/4 "2004-07-19T10:57:51Z")
My sainted mother always said that blue cheese smells like ammonia when it goes bad. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/5 "2004-07-19T11:05:12Z")
Danish blue shouldn’t be covered in furry mould at all, in fact no blue cheese should. The mould should be in ‘seams’ throughout the cheese but if there is furry mould on the surface (is it like the furry mould you get on old bread?) then it has gone off. Saying that, I would just cut the surface mould off and eat the interior. MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmould! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/6 "2004-07-19T12:33:03Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > Rummaging around in the fridge,I found a half-open pack of Danish Blue.It doesn’ smell odd,but it is covered in blue furry bits and mould.Since it was like that to start with,how do I know when it’s gone yeuhhh? Blue mold and a strong foul odor are the signs that blue cheese has gone bad. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/7 "2004-07-19T13:03:00Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Blue mold and a strong foul odor are the signs that blue cheese has gone bad. I thought the odor at least would have suggested it was fresh 😛 I guess it’d be cheaper to run out and buy more cheese rather than taking the chance and eating it, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/8 "2004-07-19T18:10:02Z")
**Willass** is correct. Blue cheeses have the mold-creating enzyme injected into their structure, and no mold forms (or should form) on the outer surface during ‘manufacture’. So if there’s mold on the outside, it’s gone bad. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/9 "2004-07-19T18:20:28Z")
When it complains that it can’t reach the maraschino cherries in the bottom of the jar and asks for some tootpicks so it can finish them off. That’s bad. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/10 "2004-07-19T23:34:41Z")
Then there was the comedian (Steven Wright, perhaps?) who wondered how you could tell when sour cream went bad: “Did it turn…sweet?” ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/11 "2004-07-20T00:02:52Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > **Willass** is correct. Blue cheeses have the mold-creating enzyme injected into their structure, and no mold forms (or should form) on the outer surface during ‘manufacture’. So if there’s mold on the outside, it’s gone bad. It’s a mold culture (_Penicillium roqueforti_, not a mold-creating enzyme. The mold continues to grow after purchase. If it’s gotten all blue and fuzzy on the outside, you’ve waited a bit long to eat it, but absent bad smells, or spots of different colors, it should be OK to eat. If you have a bit of mold to spare, toss it into a pint of sweet cream and let it incubate for a few days. Yumm! Consult a French cookbook for the recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-when-my-blue-cheese-has-gone-off/255791/12 "2004-07-20T05:11:32Z")
> [@](#): > > How can I tell when my blue cheese has gone off? Stinky shrapnel. 😛