“If you see anything stick up from the surface, then it's more likely to be mold.” The slightly thready look of the powdery-looking stuff on this cheese suggests that it's mold.
Look for visual cues such as an extra slimy surface; dark, dry, and cracked areas in a hard cheese; or yellow splotches on a blue cheese (remember, unintended mold doesn't necessarily mean the entire wheel is done for). If the cheese is unopened, bloated packaging can also be an indicator.
Mold generally can't penetrate far into hard and semisoft cheeses, such as cheddar, colby, Parmesan and Swiss. So you can cut away the moldy part and eat the rest of the cheese. Cut off at least 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) around and below the moldy spot.
With white, fuzzy mold, tinged with green, the flavor effect is minimal and the mold can be safely cut away without incident. Black or gray mold is less desirable, and you should cut away more of it to remove any cheese that might be impacted.
Those white speckles that cheddar cheese can often bear surely look like mold growth, but thankfully they aren't. This snowy coat is actually known as calcium lactate, which is a natural byproduct of the cheesemaking process.
It's likely that the white substance on the outside of your cheese is calcium lactate. Calcium lactate is common in aged cheese. It is basically a natural calcium buildup that occurs over time during the aging process, and it sometimes will become visible on the surface of the cheese.
Best-case scenario: Nothing. It could taste bad or you might get an upset stomach. In-between scenario: You could have a moderate allergic reaction, contract a foodborne illness, or have respiratory issues. Worst-case scenario: You could be hospitalized, put on dialysis, or even die.
A pungent cheese will still taste pleasant to a connoisseur. When it has gone bad, it will taste overly bitter or sour, or have a musty quality to it, like drinking water from a moldy pipe. And if a mild cheese all of a sudden has some character to it, don't assume you just aged your own cheese. Just throw it away.
Mold is an integral part of the cheesemaking process. Almost none of it will kill you, but it could negatively impact the flavor and texture of the cheese it's growing on or at the very least make it taste pretty different from how it was supposed to.
The other common cause of moldy cheese is inconsistent temperatures in refrigeration. Should your cheese start growing mold, you might find yourself diagnosing an appliance issue.
The most famous mould, Penicillium can be blue (roqueforti), green (glaucum) and white (camemberti / candidum) and is widely used to produce blue cheeses and bloomy rinds (Brie/Camembert). Chrysosporium sulphureum (sometimes called Mimosa). Bright yellow spots.
So long as you still like the taste, the cheese is fine. Just be aware that the flavor will intensify on most cheeses over time. If the small bite of cheese makes your tongue, lips or cheek tingle or burn, the cheese is bad (even if it passed the look and smell tests).
“However, some molds can cause allergic reactions and respiratory problems. Other molds can produce poisonous toxins and make you sick.” If you do eat moldy food and feel ill or short of breath, see a doctor immediately.
The symptoms of food poisoning usually begin within 1 to 2 days of eating contaminated food. They can also start a few hours later or several weeks later.
If the colour of the cheese has darkened or faded, there might be something wrong with it. Also, look out for changes in the texture of the cheese. If you notice anything slimy on the surface or bloating in the package, it may be time to discard it.
Neglecting the Fridge
"Any moldy food will put additional spores in your refrigerator and could cause your cheese to mold faster," says Kerry Henning, master cheesemaker at Hennings Cheese. For food safety reasons, your refrigerator temperature should always be below 40°F.
As a rule of thumb, the natural rinds of most cheeses are edible. For example, the rind on other soft cheeses, such as the closely related camembert are also safe to eat.
The yellowish spots are likely coryneforms which are common in washed rind cheese, they will grow on any cheese with a lot of moisture. This excessive moisture also encourages the growth of blue and black molds. Either the cheese body is too moist or the aging space is too humid, perhaps both.
Black spot defect is known as a fatal flaw in cheese making. These minute flecks of black in aged cheeses mean serious devaluation of cheese. They are formed because of the metallic nature of compounds that find their way into the milk line. The likely cause is poor removal of internal teat sealants.
Those who process toxins well can see their symptoms disappear as quickly as a few days. Others who eliminate toxins slowly can experience symptoms for much longer. They could be ill for months or even years after the source of mold is eliminated.