Is it Safe to Cut the Mold off of Cheese?

Cheese molds. It's unfortunate, but it happens and most people will proceed to throw away the entire block of cheese because of a small piece of mold. However, you don't have to waste that yummy piece of cheese just because it has a bit of mold growing on it! Cheese itself has mold compounds involved in its creation, so it is safe to eat the rest of the cheese if you cut off the bit that has begun to grow the mold. If the mold begins to grow on soft cheeses such as cottage cheese or ricotta, then you should throw it out. Soft cheeses are not comparable to hard cheeses because the mold will spread and infect the entire carton of soft cheese. If you have hard cheese, though, it is perfectly safe to cut off the infected piece, along with another inch or so for insurance
purposes, and eat the rest of the cheese without worrying about it being a health liability. When you cut the mold off of the piece of cheese, be sure to keep the knife out of the mold itself to avoid cross contaminating the good pieces that are still left over, though!

-Written by Caitlyn Grisham