Can dogs eat brie?

The detail

Brie and camembert get their soft white rind from Penicillium camemberti, a mould deliberately introduced during production, in the same broad family as the Penicillium roqueforti used to vein blue cheeses like Stilton and Roquefort. They are related but genuinely different species, and that distinction matters, because it is P. roqueforti's mycotoxins, roquefortine C and penitrem A, that show up in documented cases of tremorgenic mycotoxin poisoning in dogs, not the mould used in brie.

A 2024 study in the journal Foods, looking specifically at Penicillium camemberti in Camembert cheese, found that the mould can produce a different mycotoxin, cyclopiazonic acid, but that production is strain-dependent and varies hugely by condition. A prior study cited in the paper found cyclopiazonic acid in 32% of 19 commercial Camembert samples, at levels of 89 to 120 micrograms per kilogram, low compared with the thousands of micrograms per kilogram of roquefortine C found in retail blue cheese in a separate study. Under lab conditions with a contaminating mould present at room temperature, levels reached as high as 7,090 micrograms per kilogram, but no cyclopiazonic acid was detected under the same conditions at fridge temperature.

The same study notes that the European Food Safety Authority does not consider Penicillium camemberti eligible for a qualified presumption of safety, which sounds more alarming than it is: this is a regulatory classification about the species as a whole rather than a documented history of dog poisoning cases the way roquefortine C has. The researchers' own practical advice, to discard cheese as soon as it shows any mould beyond what is expected, is the more useful takeaway for anyone feeding brie to a dog, since a wedge left out too long or gone visibly off is a different and less predictable risk than a fresh piece from the fridge.

The mould question aside, brie is still a rich, fatty dairy food, and that brings the more everyday risks any soft cheese carries. PDSA's pancreatitis guidance lists high-fat foods, giving cheese specifically as an example alongside butter and pork, among the recognised risk factors for a flare-up, and VCA Animal Hospitals separately notes that dairy can cause loose stools or wind in dogs who do not produce enough lactase to digest it comfortably, whether or not there is any mould involved at all. Brie is also a fairly salty cheese compared with some other varieties, so salt is worth keeping in mind alongside fat in a generous, unmonitored wedge.

Is brie as dangerous as blue cheese for dogs?

No, and this is a genuinely different situation from Stilton, Roquefort or Gorgonzola, even though all of these are mould-ripened cheeses. Blue cheeses use Penicillium roqueforti, and the roquefortine C it produces turns up reliably at high levels in every blue cheese sample tested in a 2020 retail study, sitting alongside documented case reports of dogs developing tremors and seizures after eating mouldy dairy.

Brie's rind mould, Penicillium camemberti, is a different species that has not been linked to the same tremorgenic mycotoxin syndrome in the veterinary literature. It can produce its own mycotoxin, cyclopiazonic acid, but at generally much lower levels in ordinary retail cheese, and it is not associated with the seizure cases that make blue cheese a firmly unsafe verdict on this site.

Can dogs eat the white rind on brie?

The rind is the part with the mould culture, so it carries whatever mycotoxin risk exists, though that risk is low in a normal, fresh piece of shop-bought brie based on the levels found in retail testing. It is also tougher and more fibrous than the creamy interior, which can be a bit much for a sensitive stomach in a large piece.

If you are giving your dog a small piece of brie at all, trimming off the rind and offering a bit of the plain interior is a reasonable extra precaution, particularly for a dog with a sensitive gut, even though the rind itself is not considered a major toxin risk the way blue cheese veining is.

My dog ate a whole wedge of brie, what should I do

A large amount of any rich, fatty cheese eaten at once is more of a pancreatitis and stomach-upset concern than a mould-toxin one for brie specifically. PDSA's guidance names cheese among the high-fat foods linked to pancreatitis flare-ups, with signs including vomiting, a painful abdomen, and reduced appetite.

Call your vet if your dog has eaten a substantial amount, especially if the cheese was old, past its best, or visibly mouldier than usual, since a spoiled or over-ripe piece is a less predictable risk than a fresh one. Watch for vomiting, diarrhoea or lethargy over the following day or two either way.

Is camembert the same risk as brie?

Yes, treat them the same way. Camembert uses the same Penicillium camemberti mould as brie, just in a smaller, more strongly flavoured format, and the research on cyclopiazonic acid levels in this cheese type was carried out specifically on Camembert samples.

The same caveats apply either way: a small piece of fresh, plain camembert carries a low mould-toxin risk based on the available research, but it is still a rich, fatty dairy food worth offering only occasionally and skipping entirely for a dog prone to pancreatitis.

Are there safer cheese options than brie for dogs?

Yes, a firmer, lower-fat cheese like mild cheddar or mozzarella is a more forgiving choice, since neither uses a mould culture and both tend to carry less fat gram for gram than a soft, rind-ripened cheese like brie.

None of these are risk-free, since VCA Animal Hospitals notes dairy in general can upset a dog that does not tolerate lactose well, so small amounts remain the rule whichever cheese you choose.

Can dogs eat other soft, mould-ripened cheeses like Brillat-Savarin or Chaource?

The same broad reasoning applies to most French-style soft white-rind cheeses, since many use Penicillium camemberti or a closely related culture to develop their rind, the same species covered by the Camembert research on this page, rather than the Penicillium roqueforti used in blue cheese.

That said, this page's research was carried out specifically on Camembert, and other soft cheeses can differ in fat content, salt and exactly which mould strain is used, so treat any unfamiliar soft cheese with the same general caution, small amounts of a fresh piece only, and skip it entirely for a dog prone to pancreatitis, rather than assuming an identical risk level.