dumb shredded cheese question

taagent

I was going to have something with cheese in it for lunch... I looked on the shredded cheese packaging and it doesn't say anything about it being pasturized.  Can I eat it?

ShannonLK

What brand is it and where did you buy it?

mviajera

Probably...if it is a hard cheese like cheddar or mozzarella you should be just fine.

blondey

Check the ingredients. It should say something like, made with pasturized milk.

taagent

It is Borden and I got it at Bi-Lo (grocery store here in the South), and it is a cheddar/montery jack combo

MrsJJC

any shredded cheddar, mozzarella, jack, etc...should be fine. They always list "feta, blue cheese, cotija" etc for the soft cheese to worry about. Even then, I have seen that if they are pastuerized (which nearly all are in the US), it's pretty much fine so long as you don't eat it with a spoon every day.

taagent

Yay!  Okay, I found it.  THanks for the tip on the ingredients, it was there all along!  What do you do if you go out to a restaurant???

ShannonLK

blondey:

Check the ingredients. It should say something like, made with pasturized milk.

I wouldn't have thought to look there.  I don't eat much cheese though.   Yeah, I'm a weirdo like that. 

jarbatz

Its really more the "soft" cheeses you need to worry about...like the pp said - feta, blue, goat cheese....cheeses that crumble.  But pretty much any cheddar, american, etc you get in the grocery stores or in restaurants are going be pasteurized and thus, safe for you to eat.

jscogin

Most cheese at restaurants are bought in bulk and are pasteurized, just don't order anything with feta, blue cheese, brie etc.

theredvixen

taagent:

Yay!  Okay, I found it.  THanks for the tip on the ingredients, it was there all along!  What do you do if you go out to a restaurant???

Enjoy myself. 

Sorry, I know I'm being snotty it was just the first thing that popped into my mind.  If you are getting something that has a cheese on it ask if they know whether or not it was made using pasteurized milk. If they say it wasn't or that they don't know, ask for no cheese if your worried about it.

taagent

Thanks ladies.  We may be going out to dinner with my IL's on Saturday and will most likely go to a mexican restaurant so I was just curious.

Buffy_Baby

To clarify, real mozzarella is a soft cheese and might not be pasteurized. Shredded mozzarella is not.

O'C

We went out to California Pizza Kitchen last weekend and I ordered a salad with blue cheese, I had the waiter check the label and he said it was pasturized... if he wasn't sure I would have gone no cheese.  Most places are pretty friendly about doing this for you.

blondey

taagent:

Thanks ladies.  We may be going out to dinner with my IL's on Saturday and will most likely go to a mexican restaurant so I was just curious.

 Some Mexican restaurants may use Queso Fresco (which may or may not be pasturized, depending on where it was shipped from). Just ask.