>>Hello Charlotte!  I received the following question on one of my lists
>>(LactNet):  do you know if there is mold in all cheeses?  what is the enzyme?

My reply so far [previously posted]--could you make corrections and additions as
needed?

>Dear Arly,
>
>I agree with your comments.  The only thing I might add is the need to
>consider nondesirable mold growth (i.e. not the cultures used for Brie,
>blue cheese, etc.).  Mold spores are rather common in our environment so
>they can be in the cheese, on dust in the air, on surfaces, etc.  Some of
>these "wild" molds can produce compounds that can cause cancer and you
>can't tell by looking at the cheese which type of mold growth it is.  For
>this reason, we recommend that mold growth on cheeses like Cheddar and
>Swiss be trimmed off.  The mold mycelium (root-like) are hard to see
>therefore 1/2 inch should be twimmed off moldy cheese below the visible
>mold area.  Soft cheese with mold should be thrown away since the mold
>mycelium can penetrate further.
>
>Cottage cheese can be cultured with Lactobacillus or direct set by the
>addition of acid.  If the label says "cultured" it uses bacteria to produce
>the lactic acid which causes the coagulation of the casein in the milk.
>
>I have some questions for the people on this net.  I currently have a
>research project to study how well reduced fat cheeses work when used in
>cooking.
>
>1.  Have you tried any of the reduced fat cheeses?
>
>2. If so, did you eat it plain or use it in a recipe?
>
>3. If used in something, what was (were) the product(s) and how well did
>you like the results?
>
>Send responses to [log in to unmask]  Thanks
>
>
>
>======USU=======USU=======USU=======USU=======USU=======USU
> Charlotte P. Brennand,               EMail: [log in to unmask]
> Food Safety Extension Specialist        or [log in to unmask]
> Dept. of Nutr. & Food Sci.
> Utah State Univ.                     Voice  801 797-2116
> Logan, UT 84322-8700                 FAX    801 797-2379
>======USU=======USU=======USU=======USU=======USU=======USU
>

Arly Helm                                       [log in to unmask]