Molds are able to grow on cheese due to the environmental conditions during cheese production and ripening. Several genera of molds, including Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Mucor, and Geotrichum, are commonly found in cheese and contribute to characteristics like texture, color, smell, and taste. Certain molds like Penicillium roqueforti and P. camemberti are beneficial in cheeses like Roquefort and Camembert and are part of the ripening process, while other molds can spoil the cheese or produce toxins. Controlling unwanted molds in cheese involves treatments approved in the EU like natamycin and sorbates to balance the microorganisms

1. WHAT DO MOLDS LIKE SO MUCH
ABOUT CHEESE: THE GROWTH OF
MOLDS DURING THE PREPARATION
AND USE OF CHEESE
The environmental conditions during the production
and ripening of cheese make it an excellent substrate
for the growth of molds.
Molds are a kind of fungus. Their most interesting
characteristic is their ability to adapt to even more
extreme pH conditions than bacteria can.
Molds can be both beneficial and detrimental to the
shelf life of cheeses.
The most common genera of fungi in cheese are Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Geotrichum,
Mucor and the most well-known is Penicillium (P.)
Penicillium is the most important genus of fungi found in ripened cheeses.
Each genus of molds listed above contains species that are involved in the ripening of various
cheeses, and give them their characteristics in terms of texture, colour, smell and taste. This
applies to P. Camemberti and P. Roqueforti, for example. These molds grow on the surface of
these varieties of cheeses (Camembert and Roquefort) and everything in these cheeses is
edible, except for the label.
"Good" molds grow in these natural mould rind cheeses during their ripening process, in
storage, while they are on sale, and even in the home. Nobody expects to buy Roquefort
cheese of just one colour, without its blue-green holes and its characteristic aroma…
Camembert cheese is covered all over with a whitish mold, while other cheeses are covered
with a greyish ash-like mold. These natural rinds should not be confused with artificial rinds,
with a label that stipulates whether they are edible.
But other species in this same genus also visibly spoil the surface of the cheese, and can also
lead to discolouration and an unpleasant taste, and in the worst case scenario, release
mycotoxins.

2. The main treatments for removing unwanted fungi in cheese rind in the European Union
involve natamycin and sorbates, and there are some differences between them.
Value in the cheese making sector lies in striking a balance between all the types of
microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, yeasts) that go into cheese, either voluntarily or inevitably,
and taking advantage of those that are also useful for removing the negative point of the
harmful microorganisms.
And this can only be done by the traditional processing method, but always taking food safety
into account, for which the environmental conditions are very important.
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