Why Your Cheese Is Wet When You Open It

Picture this: You've just grabbed a brand-new package of shrink-wrapped cheese out of the refrigerator, excited to get to snacking. But when you tear into it, you discover that the cheese has been sitting in a slick layer of what appears to be water. It passes the sniff test, the plastic hasn't been punctured, and there are no unusual mold spots on it. So why was your block of cheese soggy even before it was opened?

It turns out that prepackaged cheese can develop moisture due to its natural production process, and to address the elephant in the room, yes, it's perfectly safe to eat. The clear liquid you're seeing isn't water but rather whey, which can sometimes seep out after the cheese has been packaged. And not every shrink-wrapped cheese you purchase will have whey in the packaging, either. Whey naturally seeps out in aged cheeses, such as mature cheddars, as part of the aging process. Yours is still doing a residual bit of aging after it's been packaged. 

There's no special method you need to use to address the whey, aside from simply blotting it up with a paper towel or a napkin. After that, you can get to eating your cheese immediately.

In aged cheeses, you might also see little white spots that look suspiciously like mold, but if you inspect them more closely, they should have an appearance that's crystalline in nature. Don't worry about these, either — they're either calcium lactate or tyrosine, which occur naturally during the aging process. Both are safe to eat.

Calcium lactate forms on cheeses like Colby or sharp cheddar. As those cheeses age, the bacteria in the cheese culture breaks down the cheese's lactose, creating lactic acid. That lactic acid binds to calcium in the cheese, forming crystals of calcium lactate. These crystals appear in the form of a dusty-looking white powder on the surface of your cheese block.

Tyrosine, an amino acid, develops inside cheeses such as Swiss, pecorino romano, and parmesan. These crystals appear in the form of clusters or specks and add a signature crunch to each bite of cheese you find them in. Many people, including me, covet their texture and feel they're a certain indicator that the cheese you're about to eat will have a complex aged flavor to it.

I like to think that all cheese has its own personality, and that's reflected in details like its appearance. Whether it's slightly wet in the package, crunchy, or both, it's still safe to eat, and all but guaranteed to be delicious.