# How can Sharp Cheddar go rancid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [September 2, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670 "2025-09-02T01:37:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/1 "2025-09-02T01:37:53Z")
I routinely buy Sargento sliced, sharp cheddar. I like it on sandwiches and Ritz crackers. The package has a ziploc type seal. I opened a new package and the cheese tasted off. I didn’t eat that slice. A week later I noticed the cheese package puffed up. One whiff confirmed it was rancid. Whole package went in the trash. I’ve never bought cheddar that went rancid. Mold. Yes! But going bad a couple weeks after after purchase doesn’t make sense. Anyone else have something similar happen? I’m guessing a shopper ditched the cheese on a shelf. A stock boy put it back in the cold box.(maybe the next day) What else could make it go bad? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/2 "2025-09-02T01:45:36Z")
I had cheddar cheese go moldy on me, but it never became rancid, and I had kept it in the fridge for over a month. Was it past its best by/ sales expiration date? If it goes moldy, I just remove the mold and carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/3 "2025-09-02T01:51:31Z")
Somehow a situation had to develop where the contents were contaminated with bacteria, but there wasn’t enough air for mold to compete (and the package was airtight enough to bloat). Which is strange because I would have thought sterilization was done post-packaging. Maybe a random package that simply didn’t get heated enough? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/4 "2025-09-02T01:53:15Z")
I had the same happen with Sargento. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/5 "2025-09-02T01:58:18Z")
I thought the cheese making process acted as a preservative. Cheese used to be aged in barrels. Maybe the seal on the Sargento was tampered with. I do know that bloated bag stunk. I rarely have it mold. A package is consumed within a few weeks. Crackers and cheese is my favorite snack. There are recent recalls. > **[FDA Recalls Over 5,400 Pounds of Cheese Over Listeria Concerns](https://www.prevention.com/food-nutrition/a65822711/middlefield-original-cheese-co-op-recall/)** > > This is the second cheese recall in the past week. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/6 "2025-09-02T02:23:50Z")
I believe cheese can be contaminated with botulism. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/7 "2025-09-02T02:33:18Z")
I thought that the danger of botulism was that it didn’t noticeably smell or taste bad. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/8 "2025-09-02T03:51:48Z")
I would think most of the cheese we eat today would not be the same as 100+ years ago. There are so many additives. Manufacturing processes. Handling. Numerous steps, where many things can go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/9 "2025-09-02T04:16:10Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I would think most of the cheese we eat today would not be the same as 100+ years ago. Even 50 years ago. I remember cheese getting moldy within a week growing up. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/10 "2025-09-02T13:26:36Z")
I keep cheese in the fridge, but i sometimes keep it for months. Sometimes it goes moldy. I’ve never had it go rancid. Cheddar keeps well. I but agreed chat that’s been intentionally aged for more than a year somewhat often. I’ve never bought that sargento. I’m guessing it’s not real cheddar. But maybe something about slicing it exposed so much of it to air that it goes bad. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/11 "2025-09-02T13:52:53Z")
I’m glad cheddar is inexpensive. I’ll be more careful with a sniff test before eating. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/12 "2025-09-02T13:57:16Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I thought that the danger of botulism was that it didn’t noticeably smell or taste bad. Good point ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/13 "2025-09-02T17:37:07Z")
That’s comforting. Food can smell and taste fine and still kill you. 😋 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/14 "2025-09-02T17:52:07Z")
And then there’s American cheese, which never seems to go bad. And yes, it’s actually cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/15 "2025-09-02T18:11:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That’s comforting. > > Food can smell and taste fine and still kill you. 😋 In the special highly artificial situation of improperly canned food where it was sterilized _almost_ enough: enough to kill all competing microorganisms that would cause a giveaway bad taste and smell, but not enough to kill the slower-growing but extra-hardy botulinum microbe. It took the invention of canning to contrive a circumstance that could fool our bad-food warning instincts like that. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/16 "2025-09-02T22:38:24Z")
Grocery worker checking in: It is entirely possible that it left the packaging factory completely intact but somewhere between that point and its arrival on the store shelf it was pierced/punctured/otherwise contaminated. It happens sometimes. Sometimes we catch it in the backroom before it hits the shelf. Sometimes we don’t. Could be a staple, a nail, the point of a boxcutter opening a cardboard shipping box… Hard to say exactly what happened but yeah, sometimes things go wrong and food goes bad. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/17 "2025-09-02T23:07:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > And yes, it’s actually cheese. American cheese is real cheese, but Kraft singles are not American cheese, or cheese at all. They’re “pasteurized prepared cheese product”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/18 "2025-09-02T23:21:13Z")
Which is a long and high-falutin’ way of saying “plastic”. Uggh. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/19 "2025-09-02T23:28:03Z")
Slap cheese(my name for those orange, cellophane wrapped slices) have a place in the culinary world. Usually it’s kid treats, dog treats and grilled cheese sammiches. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-sharp-cheddar-go-rancid/1022670/20 "2025-09-02T23:34:15Z")
“Plastic” is a bit harsh, but it is basically milk that’s been separated into its component molecules and then recombined. Kraft singles don’t even qualify for the relatively prestigious “pasteurized process cheese” label due to added milk protein concentrate. That seems to have been a (longstanding) tariff avoidance measure.