‘Was this a memo I missed?’: Woman buys packaged shredded cheese from the grocery store. Then she reads the fine print
This woman got some not-so-gouda news about the shredded cheese sitting in her fridge.
Depending on your household, you may go through bags of shredded cheese in a matter of days or weeks.
This woman was shocked to find out that cheese packs don't last nearly as long as she expected, at least according to the information on the label.
In the trending video, which has more than 100,000 views, mom and teacher Caroline Tabor (@caroline_tabor) says she was sitting casually when she noticed the small print on the back of her bag of shredded colby jack cheese.
"This is something I've never really paid attention to," Tabor says.
Under "KEEP REFRIGERATED," the packaging states the cheese should be used within three to five days of opening.
"Was this a memo that I missed? Are we supposed to be eating these within three to five days of opening? Because I sure as h*ll don't. Am I about to die?" Tabor asks.
How to properly store cheese
According to the federal food authority (aka the U.S. Department of Agriculture), these are the refrigeration guidelines, depending on the type of cheese you get:
- Hard cheese, like parmesan and swiss
- Unopened: six months
- Opened: three to four weeks after opening
- Soft cheese like cheddar and mozzarella
- one week
- Cream cheese
- two weeks
All of these cheeses are freezable for up to six months, but the USDA advises against freeing ricotta, cottage, and cream cheese since freezing affects the texture.
Food site Delish gives you more leeway with the shredded soft cheeses, saying the product can be good for up to two weeks after opening it.
How to tell if your cheese has gone bad.
The true test, of whether a cheese is still safe to eat will depend on your senses, Healthline reported.
Smell: If the cheese is stinky in any way, chuck it. The smell can range from sweaty to chlorine or ammonia-like.
Sight: Inspect your cheese for blue green mold, white specks, or crystalized patches. If you have a healthy immune system and eat a little bit of mold, you'll likely be fine. But some molds are more dangerous than others. Monitor for signs of food poisoning, including vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain.
Taste: Stop right there, and go back to your other senses. You don't want to risk accidentally putting rancid cheese in your mouth. Yuck.
What about the date on the package?
Every day, the average American chucks about a pound of food, according to a Department of Agriculture study.
Some of this food waste is due to ambiguous “best by” and “use by” dates—like the ones you'll find on cheese packaging—which experts say need to be standardized since right nor 90% of Americans are misinterpreting labels.
Some of the food in question could still be eaten or frozen for later. But aside from baby formula, there are no federal regulations on these “best by” dates. Instead, they’re often a manufacturer’s guess as to how long the food item will taste the freshest.
“Supermarkets may also use the dates as a guide when stocking shelves. But the dates have little to do with how safe the food is,” Consumer Reports stated.
Commenters weigh in
"We don’t go through it that fast either. If it ain’t got mold, we eat it," the top comment read.
"Girl I have never done that. All five of us are still breathing," a person said.
"I don’t buy it anymore, I get the block and shred it myself when needed! It stays longer and doesn’t have that," another suggested.
The Daily Dot reached out to Tabor for comment via TikTok directed message and comment.
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