I have a packet of cheddar cheese, unopened, with an expiry date of 13 November. There are clearly lines of powdery substance on the cheese, just as I’ve seen before when I kept a large block of it too long. It is sandwich sliced, so I can’t just carve the powdery part off and use it.
Is this just normal for cheddar, or should I toss the pack unopened?
ETA: I should point out that it’s intended for use by a toddler, and an adult who gets food poisoning easily, so we’re not looking to take any risks.
I’ve never seen cheddar with white powder on it that wasn’t spoiled by nasty smelly mold. I’d go ahead and open it, and if it doesn’t smell moldy, I’d use it (maybe wipe it down with a vinegar-soaked paper towel first). But my guess is that it’ll have that nasty moldy smell to it.
Very mature cheddars sometimes have granular white bits in/on them - but I’m guessing that ready-sliced cheese isn’t going to be an extra mature variety.
Cheerse in my fridge often gets white mould on it, especially if I’ve got soft cheeses in with natural white mould rinds (Brie, Camembert) and I’ve been promiscuous with the cheese knife - this doesn’t bother me much, but given the facts in your case, I’d think it’s better to be safe than sorry.
I dont understand that kind of thinking----Please, all you need to do is go down to the store where you payed your hard earned money for the spoiled product (no receipt necc.) and ask them nicely for a package that is not moldy.
I PROMISE you they will be more than happy to allow you to go grab another package, and be on your way with the delicious, non-spoiled cheese that you payed perfectly good money in the first place for.
I assume that the store has a bigger loss budget/profit margin than your household does, but if you are independently wealthy, please feel free to ignore my suggestion, toss the food in the trash and go pay for a new package.
I found that with hard cheeses, you can cut away the spoiled part and be fine. I’ve also heard rewrapping the cheese in vinegar-soaked cheesecloth can help.
Isn’t the whitish powder the start of mold, it might turn green later? I cut or scrape away anything white or green, and take a taste of the cheese. If it doesn’t taste moldy, I’ll use it. Been doing this for years and we are still alive. Every reference to mold on cheese I’ve ever read says to just cut the moldy part off and its OK to use.
But in the OP’s case, better to be safe than sorry.
One semester I took a medical microbiology class in college. Tony was a great instructor.
One of his quotes (paraphrased): “By the time you can see the (bacteria/mold/whatever) on the food, it’s already too late. Even small doses of infection can be dangerous.”
The point: Just because you don’t see any food rotting, doesn’t mean it isn’t. I believe that’s why many microwave dinners nowadays include in their instructions (as a last step): “Check the temperature of the meat with a thermometer to ensure it has been thoroughly cooked. Your microwave may vary on heat settings.” (Again, paraphrased) Looks like a legal disclaimer.
This class is also the reason I have not eaten seafood since 1992. Man, you wouldn’t believe seafood.
If it weren’t already cut into slices, I’d say cut the mold off and eat the rest–I’ve done that plenty of times on a block of cheese with no ill-effects–but as it’s sliced…I can’t see that working. I second MBP and say take it back for a refund, if it’s indeed a money thing. (I’ve never bothered returning anything but that’s because I’m pathologically lazy.)
Anecdotally, a friend of mine made her son a pizza with spoiled shredded cheese (she didn’t notice the powder cuz it was white and so was the cheese) and when he told her it tasted funny, she told him he was being whiny and to eat it anyway.
When he started vomiting later on she felt quite terrible.
Yeah, I know. And they know me, and they really would be more than happy to take care of it. But would I pay $3.59 not to have to skip the playground visit (which means trouble getting Celtling to bed); unbuckle a squirming child from a car seat; carry the 32 pounds of squirm into the store; walk all the way over to exchange the package . . . you get the picture.
Of course, I could also schlep it in to work the next time I’m planning an actual grocery run; let it sit in the car for 72 minutes while I drop off Celtling and head in to work; remember to carry it in from the car and store it in the fridge all day; remember to put it back in the car at the end of the day; let it sit for another 72 minutes. . .
It would actually make a pretty good Onion headline: *Single Working Mom of Toddler Summons Energy to Stand on Principle Over Powdery Cheddar. *
Since they will throw it out after you give it to them (and you get your replacement package) it dosent really matter if it sits in the car for a while until you can hit the store.
BTW I was not trying to be snarky with my initial post; I just wanted to make sure that you knew that even with no reciept the store would give you a new package, no questions asked----you payed for a package that should be fresh and mold free until the expiration date, and you should not have to take the loss.
Stores build that kind of thing into thier budget, and will write off the loss. $3.59 is not much, but…
It would actually make a pretty good Onion headline: *Single Working Mom of Toddler Summons Energy to Stand on Principle Over Powdery Cheddar. *
:D:D:D:D:D:D Good one!
Cheddar cheese often gets a white deposit on the surface (I’m not sure I would call it “powdery” exactly). My mum told me it was just fat migrating to the surface of the cheese, and I’ve had no reason to doubt her. Certainly it never did me any harm if I ate the cheese, although if there was a lot of it I would tend to scrape it off first.
