Cheesy and Fondue learn all about rats and cheese in this squeaky episode! We cover a recent cheese recall, bust animal myths, and even explore the wild world of rat milk. Plus, we discover the surprising hero work of rats—and of course, end with a very cheesy joke!
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Why is cheddar the most dangerous of all the cheeses? Because it is very sharp!
Show Notes
https://www.newsweek.com/cheese-recall-over-rodent-activity-sparks-diarrhea-warning-2112808
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/do-mice-really-love-cheese.htm
https://www.petmd.com/exotic/do-rats-like-cheese
https://world-cheese-map.com/cheese/cheese-mice/
https://www.ratmilkers.org/contact-us/
https://www.creative-biolabs.com/3d-biology/normal-rat-milk-442.htm
Episode Transcript
Just Cheesy, the podcastpresented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Fondue here with anotherepisode from our summer series, Cheese
Bites.
It's Cheesy.
We're gonna learn all aboutrats and cheese in this episode.
We're talking about a recallanimal myth and we're even gonna
(00:22):
explore the wild world of ratmilk. We learn about some very brave
rats and of course we're gonnaend with a very cheesy joke. This
is CH Advice episode All Rats.This week we're talking about another
recall. According tonewsweek.com Casito Ellis Dablo of
(00:45):
Salem, New Hampshire isrecalling its Spanish cheese. The
recall affects about 2100items, and this is recalled due to
signs of rodent activity andwhat they're calling other insanitary
conditions during themanufacturing and storage process.
The notice included a warningabout diarrhea, nausea, vomiting
(01:08):
and fever. Products with theexpiration code August 22, 2025 or
earlier were included in the recall.
Oh no.
When people think of cheeseand rodents, the image is classic
a mouse nibbling away at awedge of cheddar. But did you know
that this stereotype goes back centuries?
It does.
In fact, one of the earliestreferences is from a medieval manuscript
(01:30):
showing mice raiding pantriesfor bread and cheese according to
Food in the Middle Ages. Butyou're thinking to yourself, well,
where did this whole rats andmice love cheese idea even come from?
Yeah, it's actually more myththan fact. Historically, people stored
food like grains and fruits insealed containers.
Oh yeah.
But cheese, especially theharder aged kind, was often left
(01:52):
out in cool cellars or inpantries. According to WorldCheeseMap.com
that made cheese one of theeasiest targets for hungry rodents.
It wasn't that they preferpreferred it, it's just that it was
accessible. And if you have apet rodent, you should know that
petmd.com says you can feed itcheese, but that it should be in
(02:12):
moderation around a gram or aquarter teaspoon because it can cause
upset stomach, diarrhea,dental problems and obesity. Hard
cheeses are best, and theyrecommend not giving them soft cheese,
as it can get stuck in a rat'steeth and lead to plaque buildup
and potentially pose a chokinghazard. And blue cheese can be toxic
(02:33):
when it the myth of Cheese andMice and Rats the occasional nibbles
evolved into folklore andcartoons. The myth was cemented in
popular culture with earlyanimation and children's stories.
Think about all those oldcartoons like Tom and Jerry or Mickey
Mouse. Cheese became arecognizable visual for mice or rats
right did you know there'seven a language connection? The Collins
(02:55):
English Dictionary lists ratcheese as slang for inexpensive or
lower quality cheese.Sometimes they even call it trap
cheese because it was deemedsuitable just for for baiting rodents
and traps. Rodents and cheesearen't just a cartoon gag. They're
a real problem. Today theyare. In New York City, rats have
been caught breaking intodelis and cheese shops. And it's
(03:16):
not just New york. Accordingto abc7ny.com in the pre packaged
cheese section of A Food forLess in Alsip, Illinois, a rat was
caught on camera trying to eatthrough the plastic wrapping to get
to the cheese.
Holy cow.
(04:23):
The officials involved wantedto make sure that the original products
were destroyed, the displaywas sanitized, and pest control was
disappeared. Dispatched. GoodFood for Less is not a sponsor, but
if they were, their ad wouldgo right here. Now, here's a twist
in the rodent cheeserelationship. People don't just imagine
rats eating cheese. There areactually scientists milking rats
(04:45):
and mice.
What?
And yes, that milk has beenused to make cheese. According to
research from BioIVT andCreative Biolabs, specialized labs
have developed automatedrodent milkers, machines designed
to extract milk from rats andmice for research purposes.
No way.
It's not exactly a boomingfarm industry, though. Mouse milk
(05:05):
is incredibly rare. An articleon Medium notes that it can cost
over $22,000 per liter. That'spartly because mice are obviously
so tiny, so you only get dropsat a time. And partly because it's
used for specialized medicalresearch. Back in 2013, Modern Farmer
reported on experiments wherescientists even tried making cheese
(05:27):
out of rat milk. It was morenovelty than delicacy, but it showed
how far people would go totest the limits of cheese science.
Yeah, I had a tough timefinding this article again, so I'm
not 100% sure that this wasreally tried. But mouse milk and
rat milk has real scientificvalue. It's been studied for its
unique proteins and potentialapplications in health research.
(05:49):
We mostly think of rats asrodents or vermin, but they can actually
help the world.
They can.
In Madagascar, researchers aretraining giant pouched rats. Yes,
rats. To sniff out landmines.The scientists have proposed that
a similar training could bedone one day to help identify spoilage
bacteria in food, includingcheese. According to Apopo.org not
(06:12):
only can hero rats search anarea the size of a tennis court in
30 minutes to detectlandmines, a human de miner with
a metal detector can take upto four days for an area that size.
And you know what? They'realso checking for what? Tuberculosis.
A hero rat screens 100 sputumsamples in 20 minutes.
Wow.
(06:32):
They say a lab tech using amicroscope takes up to four days.
They say why rats? Yeah. Well,I guess they have a highly developed
sense of smell. They'reintelligent and easy to train. They're
too light to set offlandmines. They're locally sourced,
widely available, easilytransferable between trainers, cheap
to feed, breed and maintain.They live six to eight years, and
(06:55):
they're resistant to mosttropical diseases, believe it or
not. For a small contributiona month, you can virtually adopt
a hero rat and help save lives.
No way.
Way. In one the bios, theytalk about Ronan. He's in Cambodia
and he has made history as thefirst rodent to detect over 100 landmines.
I'm ready for a joke fondue.
(07:17):
Okay. Why did the rat apply tobe CEO?
I don't know.
It wanted to be the big cheese.
Oh, get it?
The big cheese.
That was good.
Oh, that was good. And alittle bit cheesy. Thanks for listening
to Just Cheesy, the podcastand our summer series, Cheese Bites.
(07:37):
Thank you.
Looking to donate to thosehelpful little rats? Yeah. Make sure
to visit apopo.org to adopt,donate, or send a gift.
And stay cheesy, everybody.
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