It’s not mold, it’s calcium lactate (2018)

Tangential, but I recently noticed that natamycin, an antifungal agent, is being used in packages of shredded cheese as a preservative.

I was a little taken aback on seeing it, given that antibiotic stewardship has been pushed so much in the last decade.

I realize that natamycin is an antifungal and not an antibiotic, and that mechanisms of developing resistance are likely different between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. However, I’m still somewhat concerned what long-term low-level exposure will mean.

Now you have me wondering if natamycin could be useful as an anti-fungal pesticide in my vineyard/orchard :-)

It might not be good for the fungi in the tree roots.

Very intense fungicides are sprayed all over these places already. Though most of them break down in sunlight and rain after a couple days.