I received a parcel from Europe with cheese. Unfortunately they sent it via surface. It took 6 weeks over to Canada. The Swiss hard cheese was wrapped in plastic foil. No mold has developed and it smells good. I wonder whether it is safe to eat it?

  • If it's a hard dry cheese, the probably. It might even be better know when then they sent it. – MikeTheLiar Feb 7 '13 at 14:59
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    And an answer today is going to be different from one 6 weeks from now -- 6 weeks over the summer is much different than 6 weeks in the middle of winter in rather cold climates. – Joe Feb 8 '13 at 1:03
  • Also -- a clarification -- was it a whole wheel, or a cut from a wheel? – Joe Feb 8 '13 at 1:04

Put simply, if it smells/tastes good, cheese is safe to eat.

There are even cheeses which smell horrible which are still safe to eat like this guy: Époisses de Bourgogne

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    Ummm, for starters Listeria doesn't smell – TFD Feb 7 '13 at 10:07
  • Is Listeria able to grow in hard cheese? On the other hand, cheese is usually safe to eat even if it smells horrible. That is how cheese is supposed to smell. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Feb 7 '13 at 13:45
  • Mold doesn't smell, so how do you know if there's a bit of mold starting to grow that just isn't visible yet? Would that be unsafe? – Cascabel Feb 7 '13 at 16:08
  • So it would seem, but this could equally be true of refrigerated cheese, and that doesn't seem to be a problem... – user5561 Feb 8 '13 at 2:49
  • @TFD: There should only be a risk of Listeria if it's made from unpasteurized milk. – Aaronut Feb 9 '13 at 19:46

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