Eli5 your food has mold so you throw it out. Except for cheese, you just cut off that bit and keep going. Why is molded cheese still safe to eat, unlike bread or chicken?
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There is something called mycelium. Mycelium is like the the roots of a tree. So mold on the surface of a strawberry is just the outside visible part. If a strawberry is moldy then the whole strawberry is ruined. Cheese is different. I assume that the root of the mold do not penetrate the whole cheese.
Cheese is hard, so the mold can’t penetrate too far beyond the surface. Bread is not, so it’s best to assume that mold has penetrated the whole thing if you can see any.
Soft cheese is treated like bread or other foods when it comes to mold for this reason.
It actually depends on the cheese. If it’s a hard cheese, something like an aged cheddar or a nice parmesan, the cheese is firm enough that the mold likely hasn’t gotten through it – cut off the part that’s visibly moldy, check the interior to make sure you’re clear, and you should be good.
But when we’re talking about softer cheeses, bread, or meats, those are softer in texture, and mold has an easier time spreading through the entire thing. Even if it’s not visibly moldy, there are more likely to be the beginnings of moldy patches throughout – it may or may not be enough to taste bad or make you sick, but it’s a situation where it’s better to be safe than sorry, because the risk is comparatively higher.
It’s about how solid the food is and this how far the mycelium (roots) of the mould can penetrate.
The CSIRO (a govt run scientific body in Australia) once issued a list of foods you can just cut the mouldy bit off. [Link.](https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/csiro-identifies-foods-that-are-safe-to-eat-when-mould-is-cut-off/news-story/6c828916672e6177daba1456c61bb70f#:~:text=Foods%20you%20can%20save%20(if,away%20from%20the%20visible%20mould.)
Y’all don’t just throw out moldy food, cheese included?
One thing to keep in mind is that mold thrives in moisture. In foods that you can cut the mold off, there is less moisture in the interior of the food, such as the hard cheeses others have named, and carrots or other (mostly root) vegetables. Moisture affects whether a food feels hard or soft so it moisture and hardness are inseparable and not really worth distinguishing in the conversation but the outside of those hard foods get moldy because the environment they’re stored in has enough moisture.
Nobody gonna address why the hell *chicken* is included as an example???
If meat is showing mold, it actually went bad a while ago. Bread isn’t dangerous but it’s also going to be easily penetrated by mold.
Cheese is prone to getting surface mold when it’s still perfectly fine to eat.
Imagine you have three buckets. One is filled with whipped cream, one is filled with plastic bbs, and one is filled with clay. Now imagine trying to touch the bottom of each bucket with your finger.
It would be very easy to touch the bottom of the whipped cream bucket, because there is basically no resistance. The bucket with the bbs would be harder, but with some wiggling around and maneuvering, you will eventually get to the bottom. The bucket with the clay would be near impossible to touch the bottom without removing material.
Mold, like other fungi, have something called mycelium. What you see as a mushroom or mold is part of a much larger organism, and are called “fruiting bodies.” The mycelium are a lot like your hand trying to touch the bottom of the bucket. The harder and less porous the material, the slower/less far it can spread.
How often is OP eating moldy cheese?
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