Expert: Carol Schlitt - 5/5/2006

Question
Can gray mold all over mozzerella cheese be removed and use the cheese?
Also can garlic bulbs sold for planting be used in food, too?

Answer
Hi Shirley,

Soft foods (cream cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream)with mold should be discarded as the mold can form microscopic projections down into the food. Some of the these projections have been found to be carcinogenic.  Mold on harder foods (hard, block cheese, sausage, etc) can be cut off -- about 1/2 to 1-inch below the mold -- and the rest of the product can be eaten. However, sometimes the smell of the mold permeates the cheese giving it a "musty-moldy" flavor.

Since mozzarella cheese is a softer cheese, my recommendation would be not to eat or even try to cut off the mold. Some people are highly allergic to mold and serving cheese that once contained mold my be enough to set them off into a sensitivity reaction.

Now for your 2nd question -- sure you can eat the cloves.  Usually you should plant the larger bulbs and use the smaller ones for cooking.

Hope this answers you questions.  If not, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Carol C. Schlitt
Extension Educator, Nutrition and Wellness
University of Illinois Extension