What happens if I eat mold?

A common concern people have is the outcome of eating food that is moldy. This happens when you are not paying attention to what you are eating and suddenly realize that you just ate half a sandwich made with bread that has some mold on it. Then you go “Oh, crap, I just ate some mold” and then you google it to find out if you are going to die ….

As with all things you eat, the first thing that must be said is this: If you are allergic to it, then you probably shouldn’t have eaten it. But, we’ll ignore that because if you are actually allergic to “mold” (or some subset of molds) than you already know what to do or not do.

Otherwise, the answer to the question is: There’s good news and bad news. First the good news. Mold is generally not bad for you (some molds are even good for you, or otherwise enhance food, as in those fancy smelly French cheeses). If you ate mold, just don’t worry. If you feel sick then maybe the mold is a problem, but most likely it isn’t.

The bad news is simple: If the food is moldy, then it may be old and otherwise contaminated with bacteria and stuff that is not good for you. If you are in a high risk group for such things, or pregnant and trying to avoid listeria, etc., then you might want to avoid old rotten food, and the mold itself, while not harmful, is a clue that the food is old.

As a general rule, soft food is more risky if it is moldy, while hard food (like hard cheese) can be cleaned up by scraping or slicing away the moldy part.

In my personal opinion, First Worlders are more worried about rotten food than they need to be, and throw away a lot of perfectly good food. Try to be less squeamish and check your priv before discarding things that scare you.

Comments

  1. #1 Lorax
    April 21, 2012

    I certainly do not disagree with you. That said, I will now disagree with you and point out that some molds, particularly certain strains of Aspergillus species make mycotoxins, which can be problematic if not outrightly lethal. However, the mold growing on your bread is almost certainly a benign zygomycetes like rhizopus. I simply discard the mold parts or cut it away, in the case of cheese, and go on my happy culinary way.

  2. #2 mark
    April 21, 2012

    How much stuff (apples, oranges, etc.) that are unappealing to the eater are used in the food industry to make juices and prepared foods? And who would want to eat cereal made with fermented grain?

  3. #3 Greg Laden
    April 21, 2012

    Fermented grain? Ick! But if you do eat some, wash it down with a beer…

  4. #4 scidogs
    April 22, 2012

    we have all noticed that the major brands of bread last much longer than the ones from the local bake shop.
    which makes me wonder if it’s better to eat bake shop bread that shows a moldy spot where perhaps the kitchen area was not %100 clean or go with the Big Brand that lasts and lasts and eat whatever it is they put into it to keep it “fresh”

  5. #5 MadScientist
    April 22, 2012

    Oh no – the spores are everywhere! Except for the possibly horrible bitter taste produced by some of the common molds, most molds are pretty harmless (a few uncommon ones can produce toxins that’ll make you feel pretty miserable). However, I must admit that whenever I’m possessed to develop a sourdough culture I can’t help wondering if those white granules are a type of yeast I want or Candida Albicans – they all look alike to the unaided eye.

  6. #6 The Phytophactor
    April 22, 2012

    A yucky appearance and odor are microorganisms’ way of competing with the macrofauna for islands of resource. Getting eaten is the ultimate competitive loss, so the sooner the mold makes something look distasteful the more successful it is in obtaining resources. Unfortunately for some (those of smelly cheeses for example) we have learned to like the yuckiness thus demonstrating that in many cases the food is still edible but rendered distasteful, itself an instinctive reaction to help avoid those microorganisms that are not harmless. But this just shows what a competitor Greg is.

  7. #7 Greg Laden
    April 22, 2012

    PhytoPhactor, this copmetition theory has been around for quite a while and I used to think it a good idea, but I am no longer so convinced, for several reasons. First, it is very human centric; just because we are repulsed does not mean that other organisms are (plus as you point out, depending on the exact nature of the repulsive smell or sight, we may actually pay extra!). Second, if it is not backed up by truth, it is hard to defend; the noxious smell/look that covers something perfectly edible is not an evolutionary stable strategy.

    I’m wonding if there is something else going on.

  8. #8 Roland
    April 22, 2012

    What happens if you eat mushrooms? Depends on the mushroom.

  9. #9 Sara
    April 23, 2012

    Check your priv? What the heck does that mean?

  10. #10 Greg Laden
    April 23, 2012

    Sara, in well fed relatively wealthy western cultures we get to throw away food that is still edible but annoys us in some way or another. Like, it’s half eaten, has a bit of mold, is like something we ate for lunch and don’t want to eat the same thing twice in one day. That is a privilege we happen to have that others do not.

  11. #11 Nicole
    January 4, 2013

    Little itty bitty white spot on the crust- can I just scrape it off and eat the bread? I hate wasting a whole slice. I get the “hard food” rule but how contaminated is my soft bread?

  12. #12 Nicole
    January 4, 2013

    Also, toasting the bread- does that kill the mold and does that matter anyway? I keep my bread in the fridge because it lasts until its sell-by date that way, but my brother keeps moving it to the cupboard and it keeps getting mold spots within days of his doing that. I can’t afford to keep throwing out the loaves he moves out of the fridge :( Good bread ain’t cheap!

  13. #13 Greg Laden
    January 4, 2013

    Nicole, if I was you, I’d scrape the mold off, and give those pieces to your brother.

  14. #14 Jeffrey
    Hoffmann Lab
    January 5, 2013

    Hmm….. Got me thinking about making some LSD. Paging Dr. Walter Bishop!!!!!

  15. #15 Greg Laden
    January 5, 2013

    What could possibly go wrong?