Is blue cheese made with bacteria?
Matthew Shields
Updated on April 03, 2026
Is blue cheese made with bacteria?
Blue cheese or bleu cheese is cheese made with cultures of the mold Penicillium, giving it spots or veins of the mold throughout the cheese, which can vary in color through various shades of blue and green. This carries a distinct smell, either from that or various specially cultivated bacteria.
Is blue cheese mold bad for you?
Blue cheese is made using a type of mold called Penicillium, which is responsible for its distinct taste, smell, and appearance. Unlike other types of mold, the types of Penicillium used to produce blue cheese do not produce mycotoxins and are considered safe to consume.
What kind of mold grows on cheese?
The most common types of mold used to grow cheese are Penicillium (P.) roqueforti, P. glaucum, and P. candidum.
Why is blue cheese not a living thing?
Even a virus is not considered an organism as it lacks its own metabolism and cell structure (though some people have arguments about a virus being a living thing, which would then make it an organism). Unfortunately, cheese can do none of those, so cheese cannot be considered a living organism.
Is it safe to eat blue cheese with mold in it?
Air scrubbers should be brought into the home to remove the airborne mold spores that blue mold may produce. As stated earlier, blue cheese is actually made from mold. That does not mean you should eat any food that has mold on it. Let me ask you, would you eat this:
Is there such a thing as blue cheese?
Yes, blue cheese is cheese that has grown certain harmless varieties of mold.
What makes blue cheese so creamy and velvety?
Interestingly, the presence of these molds is the ultimate reason behind the unique delicacy of blue cheese. The creamy and velvety consistency of the cheese is a result of proteolysis (break down of proteins) that naturally occurs more rapidly with the molds around.
What happens if you eat spoiled blue cheese?
Blue cheese should be discarded if there are any changes in its appearance or smell. Consuming spoiled blue cheese can cause food poisoning and increase exposure to harmful mycotoxins.
Is it dangerous to eat blue cheese mold?
Blue mold, as the name implies, is the bluish or greenish fungus belonged to the Penicillium genus–the same type used to make the antibiotic penicillin. While the mold is considered harmless when deliberately cultivated on edible blue cheese, it is known to produce dangerous toxic compounds when growing on spoiled foods, walls, insulation, etc.
What kind of cheese is made of mold?
First of all, some types of cheese are meant to be made with mold, according to Lisa Richards, certified nutritionist and author of The Candida Diet. “These include various types of blue cheese, as well as brie and camembert,” she says. Then, similar to mold, it takes several types of fungus to make cheese.
Interestingly, the presence of these molds is the ultimate reason behind the unique delicacy of blue cheese. The creamy and velvety consistency of the cheese is a result of proteolysis (break down of proteins) that naturally occurs more rapidly with the molds around.
Is it dangerous to breathe in blue mold?
Because of this, it may produce airborne mold spores that you are breathing it. So yes, blue mold can be dangerous. Mold can start out as blue and if the area keeps getting wet, eventually Stachybotrys (the black toxic mold you hear about) can start to eat the blue mold and it will become black or green. That is why blue will not always stay blue!