A shopper at a major supermarket in Carmarthenshire was shocked when he got home and found that a pack of cheese he’d just bought was covered in mould. The block of cheese was bought from the Lidl store in Cross Hands this week.

The shopper, who does not wish to be named, bought the cheese for £4.99, along with several other items from the store. It was only when he got back, however, that he noticed the state of the Welsh mature cheddar he had just purchased. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.

“As I was walking around the store, I picked up the cheese and thought it was just a bit of blue you sometimes get on cheese so didn’t think much of it," he said. "But as soon as I got home I couldn’t believe it. It was covered in mould. It’s gone off, even though the ‘best before date’ on the packet says January 3, 2024.” The shopper hasn’t returned the cheese to the store as he doesn’t live nearby, but he did want to notify other people to be wary. “I’ve never had any issues with Lidl before, I like shopping there, but that’s not right.”

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With mature cheddar, a crack can occasionally appear on the outside which allows natural moulds to enter the cheese, resulting in the development of a gentle blue vein. Pictures of the cheese purchased at Lidl show white, green and brown patches along one of the ends of the block, despite it being more than two months before it’s ‘best before date’.

According to EatingWell magazine: “It’s always good to check the appearance of cheese before purchasing it and shortly after you purchase it, too. Not only will you be able to see whether the cheese already has any signs of spoilage, but you will also familiarize yourself with how the cheese is supposed to look.

"It can also help to do a bit of research on a particular aged cheese you’ve just obtained. This can include asking your cheesemonger or researching photos and videos online. Once the cheese starts changing too much from its original appearance, it might be time to discard it. If you start noticing patches of different types of fuzz in different colours or textures, that’s a sign that the cheese has gone bad.”

A spokesperson for Lidl said: "We were very sorry to hear of this matter, as it is never our intention for a customer to be dissatisfied in any way. We work very closely with our suppliers to ensure that the products we sell are of the highest possible quality for our customers. We are, therefore, disappointed if our expected high standards were not met on this occasion. We encourage customers to get in touch with our customer care team should they have any concerns about a product, so that it can be properly looked into for them."