Wednesday, May 14, 2008

It Makes Cents column - May 15 08

I was in a conversation where disagreement got rather heated. It had to do with whether the cheese with some mold on it should be thrown away. The teen in the group was for chucking the whole package. The older members thought a little mold wouldn't hurt you They were also thinking how cheese is expensive and shouldn't be wasted. So I looked on the internet for some clarification. This is what I found: "Molds are used to make certain kinds of cheeses and can be on the surface of cheese or be developed internally. Blue veined cheese such as Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, and Stilton are created by the introduction of P. roqueforti or Penicillium roqueforti spores. Cheeses such as Brie and Camembert have white surface molds. Other cheeses have both an internal and a surface mold. The molds used to manufacture these cheeses are safe to eat. Hard cheese (not cheese where mold is part of the processing) - If the mold is not too much, just cut it off. Cut off at least 1 inch around and below the mold spot (keep the knife out of the mold itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the cheese). After trimming off the mold, re-cover the cheese in fresh wrap. Mold generally cannot penetrate deep into the product. Cheese made with mold (such as Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, Stilton, Brie, Camembert) - Discard soft cheeses such as Brie and Camembert if they contain molds that are not a part of the manufacturing process. If surface mold is on hard cheeses such as Gorgonzola and Stilton, cut off mold at least 1 inch around and below the mold spot and handle like hard cheese (above). Molds that are not a part of the manufacturing process can be dangerous. Soft cheese (such as cottage, cream cheese, Neufchatel, chevre, Bel Paese, etc.) - Discard. Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Shredded, sliced, or crumbled cheese can be contaminated by the cutting instrument. Moldy soft cheese can also have bacteria growing along with the mold. Yogurt and sour cream - Discard. Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Moldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mold." I think what I learned is to be a little more like my young friend and throw more of moldy hard cheese away and not to try to save high moisture type cheeses, like cottage cheese, when there is just mold on the top. I suppose I have been thinking of the dollar more than the possible ingesting of harmful bacteria. I likely rationalized that molds, like is in blue cheese, is good, so other molds must not be bad. Then there was that thinking that penicillin comes from molds, so maybe molds are good for me. It makes sense to leave the selection of molds to the experts who make the cheese and conclude that if they didn't put it there, it could hurt me. When I cut off mold from hard cheese, I will cut more off than I used to and will be careful not to contaminate the knife. When my mother used to make and store cheese, she rubbed the cheese blocks with butter to keep the mold from forming. That would make sense to do. It would make cents, too. IMPORTANT - People with mold allergy often are advised by their doctors to avoid eating mold-ripened cheese and restrict themselves to processed cheeses. Send suggestions to Veda Hale, Box 956 Panguitch, Utah 84759, or email vedahale@hotmail.com

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