If cheese has mold growing on it, should I throw it away?
Soft cheeses, such as cottage cheese, cream cheese and ricotta, with mold should be tossed. Also throw out any shredded, crumbled or sliced cheese with mold.
With these cheeses, the mold can spread through the cheese, even if you can't see it. Also, harmful bacteria, such as listeria, brucella, salmonella and Escherichia coli, can grow with the mold.
Mold most often can't get far into hard and semisoft cheeses. These include cheddar, colby, Parmesan and Swiss. So you can cut out 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. Be sure to keep the knife out of the mold so the knife doesn't spread the mold to other parts of the cheese.
Some soft cheeses, such as brie and Camembert, and hard cheeses such as Gorgonzola are made with certain types of mold that are safe to eat for people with no health issues and those who aren't pregnant. But these cheeses can grow other types of mold that can be harmful.
Throw out soft cheeses such as brie if they have mold that isn't part of making them. Cut out the extra mold on hard cheeses such as Gorgonzola as you would with other hard cheeses.
It also may not be safe to eat cheeses made with milk that isn't pasteurized. Pasteurized means treated to kill germs. This is especially true for people with weakened immune systems, older adults, people who are pregnant, infants and young children.
If you're still not sure whether it's safe to eat your cheese, it's best to throw it out.
Oct. 16, 2025
- Molds on food: Are they dangerous? U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/molds-food-are-they-dangerous. Accessed May 8, 2025.
- Is it safe to eat cheese made from unpasteurized milk? U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Is-it-safe-to-eat-cheese-made-from-unpasteurized-milk. Accessed May 8, 2025.
- AskMayoExpert. Listeriosis. Mayo Clinic; 2024.