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The Killing of Cheese Mites

Cheese mites are minute arachnids that were originally soil dwellers consuming moulds and yeasts – there was never any soil cheddar! It has been suggested that cheese mites ‘farm’ moulds by carrying spores on their bodies and in their faeces from one location to another. These minute creatures colonise the surface and cracks in the cheese at over 65% relative humidity (RH), whether in the atmosphere of a cheese store or localised in a crack or under a cheese.

The life cycle of these mites is between 15 and 20 days.