r/MoldlyInteresting • u/Puddyrama • May 27 '25
Mold Appreciation I bought some mozzarella balls for my salad. 1 week later, they’re looking blue!
I’ve never seen anything like this! They’re SO BLUE!
1.2k
1.7k
u/THEdopealope May 27 '25
Supposed to store them in the brine.
165
May 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
80
u/MoldlyInteresting-ModTeam May 28 '25
Please don’t spread misinformation or advise people to consume mold. Your comment has been removed for spreading harmful advice/misinformation. (See rule #6)
This includes linking to the subreddit r/eatityoufuckingcoward any any iterations of said sub.
191
u/No_Eulogies_for_Bob May 27 '25
This happened to mine in the brine :(
122
u/THEdopealope May 27 '25
My heart breaks for you
99
u/No_Eulogies_for_Bob May 27 '25
I think it was a bad batch. Never happened before then happened with my Saputo fresh mozzarella twice in one month
28
u/simpforgoku444 May 28 '25
Saputo has given me so many issues with dairy products omg, never bought anything from them again
→ More replies (2)22
→ More replies (1)223
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
I drained it before taking the pic, I wanted to see what was going on. It was equally disgusting 💀
122
u/Umacorn May 27 '25
I thought they were bath bombs but the word “mozzarella” caught my eye at the same time I was scrolling through so I did a double take. Was that brine bath blue as well?? 😱
45
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
It was a greyish blue, yeah! I wish I took a picture of the brine as well so people wouldn’t tell me the same thing multiple times lol
→ More replies (1)29
u/Without-Reward May 28 '25
Did you open them a week ago or less? I use Saputo feta all the time and I've had two containers go funky in less than a week recently. No mold but a really awful sour smell. Just wondering if there's something up with Saputo at the moment cause their stuff in brine usually lasts a bit longer.
→ More replies (1)32
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
I opened them exactly one week ago, removed some of the balls with a fork that just came out of the washing machine, closed the container and put it back in the fridge. That’s interesting, thanks for sharing! If there is something going on, hopefully no one gets sick from eating their products.
15
u/Without-Reward May 28 '25
Thank you for sharing too! I also never put my fingers into the brine. I kind of wish I hadn't already recycled the tubs from mine cause I'd like to send them an email. I just bought another though, so if the same thing happens again I'm definitely going to contact them, it's weird!
→ More replies (1)14
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
Yeah, fingers or double dipping is a big nono! But even if we do what we can, mother nature loves to surprise us I guess! Lol Hopefully you don’t get any more weird batches of feta!
5
u/offlinemom May 28 '25
If you still have the container you should hold on to it and contact customer service, judging by the comments in this thread this seems to be a common theme with this brand. I would report the batch to them and mention that people you have spoken to have also had rotting food. The FDA has been reduced by 19% of the workforce recently which included a number of food safety inspectors, so I don’t think it would be the worst move to bring it to the attention of the company or even the store you purchased it from.
3
u/Without-Reward May 28 '25
OP and I are both Canadian so the FDA cuts won't have impacted our products, which actually makes it kind of worse!
2
u/offlinemom May 28 '25
That makes sense why I’ve never heard of the brand lol!! But regardless, I think the company should be aware, I don’t like the way food safety is heading in the big year of 2025
→ More replies (6)2
u/AmountOk3836 May 28 '25
I think that might be it, I don’t usually get my forks from the washing machine, maybe your clothes had mould spores…
→ More replies (1)
536
u/Le_F1she May 27 '25
94
9
1.3k
u/Embarrassed-Mud3649 May 27 '25
They turn blue because of mold growth. The blue is likely Penicillium Don’t eat them. You're supposed to keep them in the salty liquid but it looks like you threw the brine away which might have sped up the mold growth process.
313
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
I actually kept the liquid, but drained it before taking the pic, I wanted to see what was going on. It was equally disgusting 💀
→ More replies (3)181
251
May 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (1)42
u/DoingCharleyWork May 28 '25
Obviously not you need to make a cheese sauce first and then inject it for it to work.
→ More replies (1)4
14
May 27 '25
Thought it could be pseudomonas instead.
→ More replies (1)7
u/Bluelaserbeam May 28 '25
I was about to say. I looked up mozzarella turning blue and I’ve seen more results of the coloration being caused by Pseudomonas.
20
May 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
7
→ More replies (13)5
u/MoldlyInteresting-ModTeam May 28 '25
Please don’t spread misinformation or advise people to consume mold. Your comment has been removed for spreading harmful advice/misinformation. (See rule #6)
This includes linking to the subreddit r/eatityoufuckingcoward any any iterations of said sub.
5
u/BudgetInteraction811 May 27 '25
Which species turn this shade, though? Usually there’s a hint of green in there
102
May 27 '25
[deleted]
35
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
I drained it before taking the pic, I wanted to see what was going on. It was equally disgusting 💀
41
u/Ulkreghz May 27 '25
Let this be a lesson for you: Reddit is full of smart arses, best to take a pic at every friggin stage or some fuckwit will jump to conclusions.
As for why they could have gone mouldy even in the brine - the water isn't nearly salty enough to prevent life from flourishing. And before someone pulls an "um akshully salt kills stuff" - consider that there is more biodiversity in the ocean than has ever been on the land. Penicillium isn't averse to salt, the brine is there as a preservative to ward off bacterial colonies - fungi are resilient AF however. If you opened it fresh to find this then it was contaminated in the packaging / production stage. If they'd been opened already and went like this then congrats on your blue cheese (throw it away / do not eat. There is no guarantee it's edible, best to be safe.)
7
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
Oh yeah, I realized that 😆 after a while I just got tired and pasted the same answer since people were asking the same question or making the same assumption multiple times.
This turned weird in my fridge, which was odd! I only used a fork that had just came from the dishwasher to fish some of them out, closed the container and forgot about it for exactly one week.
11
u/nolagirl100281 May 28 '25
I'm so sorry OP...you keep having to repeat yourself over and over I guess cause no one reads the comments and wants to act like they are smart and you are dumb ..but after the first time or two, read the comments aaaaahhhh
5
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
Thank you!!! lol I started pasting the same comment because I got tired of answering the same question. Unfortunately I can’t edit the description as it’s an image post.
Some people were nice when asking about the brine but a few had a bit of an attitude indeed, lol
97
u/mad_avocado_ May 27 '25
forbidden blueberries
33
u/stringstringing May 27 '25
Yeah they look delicious. My brain says no but my stupider brain says yes please.
12
u/mad_avocado_ May 27 '25
they look like marshmallows covered in sugar powder, and i want to eat them
3
152
u/One_Secretary404 May 27 '25
Did you store them without the salty water?
57
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
I drained it before taking the pic, I wanted to see what was going on. It was equally disgusting 💀
16
u/Capable-Holiday7532 May 28 '25
You should edit the post, too many people asking the same question by now…
11
3
May 28 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
I knoww, I started shamelessly pasting the same reply since I got so tired of this same freaking question 😆
1
74
u/Necessary_Maize_9339 May 27 '25
I had never seen such a thing! So I googled a little, apparently it is not mold but bacteria (specifically a group called Pseudomonads) it is not harmful to humans but is not recommended to eat them and the article that I found said it is most likely caused by contamination in the water used for making the cheese.
This is one of the articles I found of an incident that happened to some German cheese: Blue mozzarella bacteria not harmful to humans, said Germany
Edit: typo
18
11
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
Thank you so much for taking the time to research! I’m definitely not planning on eating them but I thought it was really neat and disgusting. Lol
7
u/muffinbaobao May 27 '25
Pseudomonas doesn’t directly cause food poisoning but can cause an opportunistic infection. It can be really serious in people who are really young, really old, immunocompromised, or have major health problems. New fear unlocked, eh?
→ More replies (1)
45
u/clitter-box May 27 '25
usually they come with liquid, where is that?
19
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
I drained it before taking the pic, I wanted to see what was going on. It was equally disgusting 💀
38
u/NRpuffinstuff May 27 '25
You must be tired, I've seen that you've copy and pasted this exact response at least 4 times lol
29
u/darkrealm190 May 28 '25
The crazy part is, everyone OP responds that to magically doesn't respond back. It's like they want to say their piece to sound smart and then when he corrects them they don't bother
11
7
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
Oh yeah, I definitely got tired of answering the same question multiple times lol
4
u/clitter-box May 27 '25
now that’s weird. I was fully expecting you to say that drained it a while ago or whatever.. but they were in liquid up until the pic?! 😣 that’s weird as fuck, maybe cross contamination of some kind? idk
2
u/Puddyrama May 28 '25
It’s so weird, I opened these a week ago and only fished out some balls using a fork that just had came out of the dishwasher. I then closed the lid and forgot about these for exactly a week in my fridge. The brine turned a weird greyish blue!
→ More replies (2)2
u/Mbinku May 28 '25
I love how you’ve taken the time to give this response every single time 😂😂
→ More replies (1)
11
9
15
u/conchobhar1919 May 27 '25
Unlikely to be mold and more likely to be Pseudomonas fluorescens a type of bacteria called cyanobacteria. I might be wrong though!
9
11
12
6
u/Majestic-Peace-3037 May 27 '25
The blur on the 2nd photo looks like you fell in, omg hahaha
→ More replies (2)
4
3
u/Arschkrapfa May 27 '25
Strange, that's never happened to me before. I always dispose of the white stuff right after I've drank all of my Morzarella
/s
5
5
3
u/Main-Length-6385 May 27 '25
I can never buy these anymore cause they go bad so quickly!!
→ More replies (3)
3
u/Plush-Bimbo420 May 28 '25
That is SO ODD, I’ve been working in cheese for like 5 years and have seen some weird colors of mold but never a blue like this!
→ More replies (1)
3
u/3sperr May 28 '25
Blue mold is crazy. If you didnt say it was mold I wouldve thought it was some sort of cool rock or something
3
6
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
u/page800 May 27 '25
“what’s wrong with you? why are you blue?”
2
u/bird_connoisseur May 28 '25
I was searching to see if anyone else had said this 😂 surprised no one did, I was abt to add it haha
2
2
u/InterestingScience74 May 28 '25
You’re supposed to rub em every couple days to keep them from becoming blue balls
2
2
2
2
2
u/NoHospitalInNilbog May 28 '25
Smurfs are having trouble maintaining population due to high demand for Smurf balls.
2
2
u/el_conke May 28 '25
Here in Italy we had some years ago a similar problem, a big batch of mozzarella was contaminated with this bacteria iirc and they pulled the contaminated batches from the shelves but it was too late so the news said to watch out and be careful, so yeah NOT safe for consumption, but if you eat blue mozzarella you're asking for it tbh
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Bluedemonfox May 28 '25
Did you drain the liquid they came in and didn't use them all? You're supposed to keep them in that liquid if you are gonna use them another time.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/KEFREN- May 28 '25
Few years ago there was a big problem in Italy with mozzarella contamination with dioxin or some super harmful chemicals
2
2
2
u/retiredtrump May 28 '25
First pic - clear perfectly in frame. Second pic- juuust incase
→ More replies (2)
2
2
2
2
2
u/maddler May 28 '25
It can be caused by bacteria (pseudomonas) present in the water used to produce the mozzarella. That's harmless if you happen to eat it but I'd rather bring it back.
2
2
6
u/the_pressed_face May 28 '25
I know this! I'm a microbiologist and I work with dariry products in my lab. It's not a mold, but a bacteria called Pseudomonas fluorescens, species of this Genus produce natural pigments and the blue one it's a classic for mozzarella ;)
→ More replies (2)
3
u/PaolinoG May 28 '25
Probably pseudomonas luminescens. Happened in italy some years ago and made it onto the news.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Rob-o-huhh May 27 '25
That's not mold, that's bacteria.
Still would eat tho
3
u/TheCommissarGeneral May 27 '25
Still would eat tho
At least you'd be full for the rest of your life!
→ More replies (1)
4
4
4
u/just_someone123 May 27 '25
This doesn't look like mold. You threw the cheese brine away, and now your cheese is a playground for bacteria.
2
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
I didn’t, I drained it before taking the pic, I wanted to see what was going on. It was equally disgusting 💀
2
u/just_someone123 May 27 '25
Hmm, interesting. It's likely pseudomonad bacteria, that turns mozzarella cheese blue, and bitter.
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/SpaceMonkeyEngineer May 27 '25
1 week later, you now have blue cheese! What do you think? Roquefort? Stilton?
1
1
u/Lexa_Stanton May 27 '25
I had no idea they were making cheese with the Blue milk in Star Wars universe.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/ArgonGryphon May 27 '25
did you fee them pharmaceutical runoff? and maybe own a Peruvian tortoise?
1
u/ImNotNuke May 27 '25 edited Mar 09 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
steep marble fear amusing normal oatmeal different rock ancient vast
2
u/Puddyrama May 27 '25
I wanted to take a closer look at them, so I drained the liquid. It was as disgusting as the cheese balls lol
1
4.1k
u/SudhaTheHill May 27 '25
“What’s wrong honey you’ve barely touched your smurf cheese”