# Is there a rule on eating cheese rind? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118 "2015-07-03T05:19:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/1 "2015-07-03T05:19:18Z")
Picked up a block of manchego for the first time, and tried to eat the thin rind which I assumed was an edible wax with dye. NOPE NOPE whatever it is the taste was very much of the non-edible variety, chemically and strongly bitter when the cheese is very mild. But in another case with brie I wasn’t sure what the rind was or if it was edible, but I liked the taste and found out it is eaten in France. Aside from cases where the rind is obviously plastic of course. ---
**Author:** ![Sasori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sasori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasori)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/2 "2015-07-03T09:23:59Z")
That nasty taste was probably natamycin, which is used for preservation of hard cheeses. As a rule of thumb, if you can peel off the rind or it reads “preserved with E 235” on the package, you shouldn’t only peel but cut it off ca. five millimeters deep, because natamycin sinks into the cheese and that stuff is also antibiotic. When in doubt, you should ask your cheese monger. The rinds of soft cheeses, like your brie, are usually edible unless you’re pregnant, elderly or have an otherwise compromised immune system. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/3 "2015-07-03T10:01:48Z")
…and it’s the whole of the soft cheese that you’re not supposed to eat, not just the rind, isn’t it? At least, I’d definitely remember if I’d been given a dispensation to eat yummy Brie _insides_ while pregnant. Anyway, I think the difference is that soft cheese crusts are just made out of cheese, like the rest of it - just hardened due to exposure to air. ---
**Author:** ![Sasori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sasori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasori)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/4 "2015-07-03T10:46:18Z")
**Aspidistra,** maybe the precautions differ from country to country. In Europe, pregnant women are advised not to eat any cheese or dairy product made from raw milk or to cut off the rinds of soft cheeses made from pasteurized milk because these may harbour nasty bacteria (let’s face it, it’s mold). But since it’s easy to contaminate the insides of your brie when cutting off the rinds I can see why doctors think “better safe than sorry” when they declare any moldy cheese verboten. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/5 "2015-07-03T11:50:34Z")
I save rinds from parmesan or romano cheeses to put in soup. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/6 "2015-07-03T12:08:13Z")
Yes, here the advice is just “don’t eat soft cheese” However, the prevailing advice climate for pregnant women seems to tend towards “if we didn’t prove it’s 100% safe then DO NOT EAT OR YOU WILL KILL YOUR BEBEEZ !!11!” I’m quite open to hearing that soft cheese insides are actually IRL perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/7 "2015-07-03T12:39:56Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Anyway, I think the difference is that soft cheese crusts are just made out of cheese, like the rest of it - just hardened due to exposure to air. The white rind on soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert, etc is formed from mould. It’s edible (and IMO, the best bit of the cheese). The rind on harder cheeses is formed from drying, often with the assistance of moulds (Stilton, for example). Cheese mites also play a part in the formation of rinds - anything that has a powdery rind (Mimolette, for example) probably has a thriving community of cheese mites living on it. It’s all edible as long as you find it palatable. The things that are not edible are things that are not actually rind (waxes, plastics, leaves, bark) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/8 "2015-07-03T13:17:41Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I save rinds from parmesan or romano cheeses to put in soup. I just grate the rind of parmesan like the rest of it when I’m making a carbonara. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/9 "2015-07-03T13:32:46Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The things that are not edible are things that are not actually rind (waxes, plastics, leaves, bark. Aha! So even **Mangetout** has his limits! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/10 "2015-07-03T14:19:33Z")
From an earlier thread: > [@](#): > > My mother always used to say that the part I didn’t eat – crust on the bread, skin on the apple, green beans in the casserole – were always the healthiest part. > > Years later, reading the bio of Charlemagne by his contemporary (either Einhard or Notker the Stammerer – they were bound together in the same Penguin edition) I came across a description of an abbot asking Charlemagne why he didn’t eat the rind of the cheese. “It’s the best part, milord!” > > Charlemagne picked up the rind with his knife and made the Abbott eat it. It’s Good to be the Emperor. > > I copied out that section in neat calligraphic letters, framed it, and gave it to my mother. > **[Is the crust really the healthiest part of bread?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=406171)** > > My mom always used to tell me to eat my crusts, because they were the healthy part of the bread, because “that’s where the nutrition goes!”. True or false? And if it’s true, why would the nutrients go to the outside? (Keep in mind, we’re talking... ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-rule-on-eating-cheese-rind/724118/11 "2015-07-03T15:00:55Z")
Also some cheeses, like English farmhouse cheddars, are wrapped in cloth. You can’t eat that.