Soft Cheese
Who here doesn’t love soft cheese? Soft cheese can be safe for consumers for up to two weeks after purchasing from the deli, even if it’s unmarked by any use-by date, otherwise, it can develop listeria.
If your cheese has started to mold, throw it out. This also goes for brie, the cheese with the white mold on the outside, as well as blue cheese. Basically, if mold that is not part of the manufacturing process is found, the cheese is no longer safe.
Hard Cheese
Since we’ve covered soft cheese, it’s important to also talk about hard cheese. Unopened, it can be stored in the fridge for six months. But if you’re already opened it, you need to use it within three to four weeks.
If you spot any mold, unlike with porous foods like bread, you can cut around the mold since it won’t be able to penetrate very far inside- both the USDA and the Food Standards Agency in the UK say these are safe practices, so you shouldn’t worry about it! Just make sure to re-cover the cheese and it should still last for a while.
Bread
Bread may seem perfectly harmless, but it too can grow mold. If you see any on the surface, throw it out and forget about it. And whatever you do, don’t just cut out the moldy part and eat the rest. Remember, bread is porous and the mold may have already reached the inner parts of your loaf and you may be unable to see it. Better safe than sorry.
