# Why does sweaty cheese make my mouth itchy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sweaty-cheese-make-my-mouth-itchy/571454>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 15, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sweaty-cheese-make-my-mouth-itchy/571454 "2011-02-15T16:00:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**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:** [February 15, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sweaty-cheese-make-my-mouth-itchy/571454/1 "2011-02-15T16:00:08Z")

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Sometimes if I leave a good cheese unrefrigerated for too long – usually a hard cheese like comte – it gets “sweaty” – I’m guessing some of the milkfats are separating, like when separating cocoa butter makes chocolate spiderwebby.

When I eat that sweaty cheese, my mouth gets very very itchy. What’s going on?

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**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:** [February 15, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sweaty-cheese-make-my-mouth-itchy/571454/2 "2011-02-15T21:16:18Z")

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Last time this question came up, the thread turned into a trainwreck, IIRC. Some people say this is because of amines in the cheese - other people were convinced it isn’t.

I know what you mean though - I get something like you describe if I eat Pecorino or other sharp/mature cheeses.