What if there's Mold on my food?

5/22/2023 (Permalink)

Moldy food may contain toxic substance and can cause health problems. Best to throw it out!

Have you ever noticed a few small spots of mold on the slice of bread you were about to eat? If the spots are small and look easy to pinch off, it’s pretty tempting to try salvaging. But, you don’t want to get sick!

Have the small mold spots contaminated the whole piece, or will you be just fine removing them by hand?

First, it’s important to know that simply cutting or scrapping mold off your bread, strawberry, etc. won’t save you from ingesting mold. The mold has already rooted itself in your food, so what you are looking at are surface spores. Even if you no longer see it, the mold has already made its home in your food. So yes, your piece of bread is more contaminated than you think.

Although we’ve all probably pinched mold off a piece of bread at one time or another, consuming moldy food can sometimes be very harmful. Bacteria can grow along with the mold, and it’s easy for mold to contaminate porous foods like bread.

For example, black bread mold is a rarer, but very dangerous mold that grows on bread. It can cause serious infection. It’s best to toss out the moldy bread!

Mycotoxins, a toxic substance, can be produced by certain molds usually found in grain and nut crops. Mycotoxins can also contaminate apples, celery, grapes and other produce. Consumption of mycotoxins can cause respiratory problems and allergic reactions.

Additionally, if you see mold on any of the following, throw it away:

• Lunch meat
• Bacon
• Hot dogs
• Cooked pasta
• Cream or cottage cheese
• Tomatoes
• Citrus fruits
• Peaches
• Peanut better
• Jelly (mycotoxins commonly found within the mold in jams and jellies)
• And yes… bread!

A few food items you can cut the mold out from include:

• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Hard cheese
• Hard salami
• Dry-cured country hams

Best advice: When in doubt, throw it out!