What happens if I eat mold?

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.

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?

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

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"

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.

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.

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.

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

Check your priv? What the heck does that mean?

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.

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?

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!

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

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

What could possibly go wrong?

With bread and cheese I usually just remove the moldy bit and continue to eat it. However I just set my beer down in the garage for a few minutes, and when I went to take another drink I apparently picked up a different can that had been sitting there open for awhile. I took a decent smallow before the taste hit me, and when I dumped it out there was a thick skin of mold that came out... I should be fine though right? On the other hand I'm grossed out enough that it would be pretty easy to go purge right now.

what about mold in pasta sauce, I didn't realize it had mold on side of jar and lid before we ate some of it?

Catherine, probably no big deal. Just think of it as pasta sauce with a little extra cheese in it.

But, it would have been better to not eat it because the mold indicates it is old, and has been exposed to air, so there could be bacteria in there you would not want to eat. But probably it's not as bad as eating a three day old rotten monkey or something.

"Check your priv" is extremely unprofessional. I recommend you focus your grammar skills to a wider audience.

Going round in circles - I want to tell you that I'm really annoyed that someone in the world has shortened 'check your privilege' to 'check your priv', which is stupid and annoying, and then I privilege-check myself and say OH MY GOD WHY DOES ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET MATTER

I did the dishes and I ate romon noodles and I ate mold that was 2 weeks old what do I do

Nicole, put your bread in the freezer and take out a few slices at a time - it thaws quickly.

I have to laugh at this thread... in a good way. I was wondering if the tortilla I ate might have been moldy because another in the bag was. It was from a local tortilla place in MX, and I knew it wouldn't last as long commercially manufactured tortillas. I think I'll be fine, even if there was a bit of mold on it (my smell check suggested there was not), and it was good to be reminded that this is a first-world problem. And, at that, many in our relatively wealthy western culture don't have the same privileges to throw food away, either. As a teacher, I laughed both at the comments regarding "check your priv" (I did not know what that meant at first), and also #20's response to her feelings about it. Any of us who have participated in this conversation should feel immensely blessed that 1) we can care about a 'bit of mold,' and 2) that we have the resources available to us to immediately check online to see what repercussions there might be. Thank you for reminding me of this!

What if your sick already then eat mold....are you gonna die from it? And what will happen if youe allergic to it in you eat it yourself......

I totally disaprove of that "check your priv" construction, Greg. People like you are the reason why America and the whole world are headed south. Check your "privs" now!

Don't forget ergot (Claviceps purpurea fungus) poisoning. Drinking milk post consumption may mitigate the toxicity to a certain level.

Several days ago while juicing raw veggies etc. I found mold growing on some of the foods. I cut the portions off the veggies, washed them and juiced them. i also discovered a little bit of mold growing on the exterior of my ginger root which had been refrigerated and as I cut it off I discovered that quite a bit of the inside was also bluish. I googled to discover that SOME ginger IS blue, but this was NOT the case with mine. It had started out whitish/yellowish. I continued to use it anyway thinking it must be from the cold/moisture in the fridge that turned it that color. The next day I was sick with fever, aches, and nausea/vomitting diarrhea. Now the reason I am puzzled is because I was also exposed to a stomach bug with those same symptoms two days prior while with my grandchildren. Soooo my question for you is: Do you think I was sick from the ginger root or the virus? Would those be the reactions/symptoms of eating moldy food? I have quite a bit of green juice with ginger I would still like to drink !!! Thanks so much for your time and knowledge.
Mary Jo Martin

I know this is totally unrelated, but I accidentally fed my fish a crumb of bread from a cookie I was eating. I'm pretty sure that there was only about 3, very small cookie crumbs... Do you think this would affect them in a harmful way?

I ate green Jell-o (with mandarin orange slices) which had mold on it. It had been refrigerated since its first use... about 2 weeks before. Why did it get moldy? I removed the mold which was mostly on top on the floating orange slices. Have not gotten sick yet.

Yeah, but now you might need to read this...

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/02/20/why-is-my-poop-green/

I found a Britia water bottle in my cabinet that I used two years ago when we went to Disney. It had some water in the bottom but did not smell. I washed it out and used it at work. I had rinsed off the filter and thought it was fine. I drank about half the bottle of water, 6 oz. and my stomach has not felt right. It just aches, I have no appetite and I feel like I drank mold infested water! Is it in my head or did I make myself sick? Any suggestions for feeling better?

will your wright about 2 things i was like omg and searching google but i didnt eat mold i was eating chips and i felt like eating chip dip and wasnt looking at the bottle and just dipping my chips and then my little brother was like can i get some and i said yes and i look at the bottle and i saw mold i was like ewww i almost ate mold.

I gust ate a small of mold whit shod I do

I bought cherry preserves yesterday at the supermarket. The expiration date is October 2015. I opened it and in the corner there was a small amount of white. I thought it might be crystallized sugar so I scooped it out and threw that part away. I took a few teaspoons and put it on my toast then put it in the oven (I eat my jelly hot) it didn't occur to me it might be mold. I'm 38 weeks pregnant will we be ok. What should I look out for?

I ate 2 week old tuna mixed with mayo. I was hungry, it was there. Brown and green.

Still here a year later. No ill effects whatsoever. Lol.

I must say that you are a patient man. Reading your post was reassuring and the comments after were quite entertaining, esp the ones about your grammar. I think they need a little more mold (or fiber, whatever) in their diet and not worry about such things. I myself, ate the opposite end of a moldy tom and hope I will live to see tomorrow and visit your site again.

I discovered mold on a bit of crust after most of a peanut butter sandwich. I am allergic to penicillin. Should I be concerned?

didn't look and heated up a bowl of already cooked pasta from the fridge. went back for more hour later . that's when I noticed the green spots. threw it out of course, but concerned about my health. will this make me sick?

The mold is unlikely to hurt you.

Slightly off topic.
That black mold growing on the drywall is not likely to hurt you either, unless you are allergic to it. I would not recommend eating it.

Better to scrape the mildew off the drywall before eating it!

I bought a pack of pork pies yesterday which were well within date. Started eating the pastry first when I noticed there was a whiteness on the inside of the pastry and tasted bitter.. Anyway bought more pies today which didnt any white stuff in them and tasted very freah. Could that have been tmould in the pies rfrom yesterday

Be careful of you are allergic. Once I ate some green peppers which were 1.5 to 2 weeks old, already cut up in tupperware. I was working on my computer picking it up and dipping it in hummus. Less then 20 minutes later I got hot and cold flashes, my heart rate and blood pressure increased...I felt dizzy, had some problems with trying to breathe....couldn't swallow my air.....several coworkers at the hospital I worked at thought it was a heart attack. I went to ER...they kept me overnight couldn't find anything wrong. Kept commenting while I slept that I had low to good blood pressure. After all the tests they said my heart was normal, my cholesterol was only 2 points to high (great for being 110 pounds overweight!) Had no other medical 8 sues contributing to this mysterious heart problem.
And they couldn't find 1 reason for my "heart surge". 2 weeks later I was recounting story to an EMT friend who pointed out my symptoms sounded like an allergic reaction. My moral is, if you have quick or reactive type allergies to mold don't eat it and get help right away. I don't let my food so long and if I forget about food in the fridge, I throw it out. I won't go through that again.

I live in a pretty small town on one acre of land. I have a very large garden. This is my first time growing sunflowers, and when I picked the seed heads, they had mold on them. Being very busy, I left the seeds in the basement still on the seed head for about 2 weeks. I took the seeds off the seed heads, sorted them (removed the moldy ones), and rinsed them in water. About a day or two later, I boiled the seeds in salt water and then roasted them. When I tried them, the seed inside the shell was a brownish black. The seeds themselves smell like McDonalds food and were kind of squishy and weird. NOT a good sign! Several people have eaten them. My mom says they are fine. I bet it's fine this once but should I throw them out? I have about 3-4 gallons worth of seeds (my garden is not small). I don't want to throw them out. It seems very wasteful. Should I? Will they hurt me and anyone who eats them. Also, y'all are saying all these things about bread, freeze the bread until you are ready to use it. A little mold can be cut off. I can tomato sauce, salsa, pickles, and marinara sauce. The veggies I use to make the stuff are NOT the kind you would choose at the grocery store (they are moldy and have often sat around for several weeks. Looks can be very deceiving. I just cut off the bad parts and cook them. I'm still perfectly fine and so are everyone who has eaten them. So for a little mold, just cut it off. You won't get sick, trust me.

Idk what to do I ate to peaces of fudge on fudge cake it tasted a bit funny but I thought it was normal then I got to get some more in the morning I look closely at it and see little mold spots and my friend tells me the cake is 4 days old I need help on what to do

Kudos for still responding after two years. Two things would be helpful. First, is there anything a person can do after accidentally eating mold to reduce risk, like taking probiotics or Pepto-Bismol or something? Second, is there any kind of accidental mold ingestion that would probably NOT be fine?

Hi,

I just ingested .4 of a moldy blueberry muffin by accident. I'd take the word of the other comments, but this is a gluten-free Udi's muffin: do different types of molds grow on different types of flour (rice, tapioca, almond, etc), or am I safe? The mold I see is in small white patches of spots at the top (abt .6 cm across), and in gummy, semi-transparent white strands running down the sides at sparse intervals. It's been 20 minutes since I ate it, nothing yet, but I'm a bit concerned.

Also, some clarification could be appreciated: if Tums/other antacids help your stomach, but the acids are what break down the molds, wouldn't taking an antacid make any problems last longer?

Thanks,
~L

Well I was just enjoying some medjool dates and on the third one my lip started tingling like minty tingle, when I looked inside the date it had blackish brown mold around the pit and a full coating inside date, threw most of it away, im a little freaked out, anyone know what kinda mold it would be? I'm fighting a cold right now, either it's gonna kill me or help with my cold, who knows. Hope it's not the horrible stuff. If I survive I will let you know how my body reacted to it. Peace

Celia R., I read a story a while back in Discover Magazine that documented a woman who ate some old peppers and had an allergic reaction to them that started off with tingling lips. Further symptoms did not appear until the next day, though.

Considering that you posted this three days ago, I am slightly worried. Good luck, and I hope that you are not suffering an allergic reaction.

Hey ya'll,
I'm still alive, barely, Lol. The cold I was fighting turned into a full on flu type thing now I've got bronchitis. I felt ok after I wrote in, just told myself I was fine. And I was, until the sniffles morphed into this thing. So it confirms the mold I ate inside the date does not help ward off colds and such. In my opinion it just made it worse, but who knows its probably just the nasty flu going around my area. Mage I think eating peppers always makes your lips tingle due to the capsaicin, and the lady could have been allergic to that. My conclusion is I ate the mold I'm still alive, I feel like crud but I don't think the mold had anything to do with it. But I'm not gonna go and eat moldy stuff, ha! Our bodies are strong, and can fight so many bad things we put in it. I really wish I could know the type of mold it was. Peace

First of all, the food industry uses many unappealing foods and just lies to you and tells you it's fresh and 100% natural. Second, the reason major brand bread lasts so long is because it's filled with chemicals to preserve freshness. I'd rather eat moldy bakery bread than "fresh" major brand bread. And finally, stop being a bunch of pussies. Stop wasting huge amounts of foods because of a little bruise or blue spot. I eat lots of old foods and I haven't been sick in two years. I also boycotted the pharmeseutical industry, vaccines, and went vegan and 100% natural.

By the way for anyone who has become outraged by the whole "check your priv" thing, you need a hobby or something to keep you off the internet getting mad at the most stupid little things. It's not grammar that's sending the nation south. It's the pretentious douche-bags who are sheeple. That means sheep people. Like you all follow each other and you've just become brainwashed. It's sad to see most of America to deteriorate into robots of the systems. It's a shame.

Hi my husband warmed up some frozon lazunya,he left it out over night i woke at five in the morning wanting some. I started eating on the pasta little by little,then the cheesy part as I looked over i saw mold so I started coughing and spitting up what i ate. I didn't eat the mold. So will it do any harm?

Nope, I just accidentally ate moldy chocolate, and I'm fine. Oh, and you spelled lasagna wrong.

I just made a really huge pot of chicken soup. I always put everything in the pot and let it start cooking before i clean up. As i was doing dishes and cleaning up i went to throw away one of the broth boxes i noticed there was a little left in it so i dumped it in the sink and a blob of mold came out. Should i throw all the soup out

So what happens if I eat worms?

I discoreved about eat mold, and i found this intersting article. i have many question in this case but i wonder if i would have a brief explanation here
From Jasa Bangunan

well a couple of days ago i ate moldy sour dough bread and i had a huge headache and now i feel like i am going to throw up uckk

My wife just bought a 1 Kg (2.2 lbs.) box of dates from a Russian shop down in Pompano. They were priced low because (guessing) they've been in that shop a long time! They are a little hard, outer skins are a little dry, but semi-moist and look good enough inside. Tasty! After we'd both tried a few I noticed a dull, blue-gray, almost powdery tinge in the recesses between the ridges of the wrinkles. Not being from California or western Asia, we're not very accustomed to the norma appearance of dates. I'll write in with any symptoms, should they occur... unless I'm dead, of course!
P.S. For a guy with so acute and adept with the English lang, I'm [surprzd at your shortning of "priv."] I thought you were using the British term "privy," and advising us to check our stools after we'd ingested suspicious food! ;-)

I was eating a honey bun earlier and ate almost half of it, some of it tasted a little funny, but I thought it was probably normal. Then I saw a brown piece in the middle and thought it was the cinnamon they put in it (which it probably was). When I got into the middle of it, I noticed some white fuzzy stuff and some kind of bluish looking texture. I started freaking out and told my mother, in which she tried to calm me down and assure me it wasn't mold. It had blue on it, what else could it be? And on top of that, there was the white fuzzy stuff on it. I tried making myself throw up most of it. Got a little bit of it up. Then I drank some baking soda, and it helped get a little bit more up. Didn't clean out my whole stomach, but I should probably be okay, at least I hope.

Nothing happens..

black mold can actually kill you

Ok so this morning I didn't have an appetite but I had raspberries for breakfast anyway because I felt like I needed to eat something. Some of them looked a little too ripe but they looked ok to eat. After I was almost done, I saw one that looked kind of moldy to me, so I didn't eat it. After that was when the burping began (and it hasn't stopped all day). Several hours later, after I took a shower, and immediately afterwards I vomited up all the raspberries but I felt a little better afterwards. Several hours later, I forced myself to eat a little tomato soup even though I had almost no appetite and I had some earl grey tea because I was so cold. After feeling nauseous for several hours, I once again vomited but felt a little better. I am afraid that all of this is because I ate some bad raspberries. I have an allergy to mold (usually just a runny nose/maybe a little sneezing) and I'm afraid that eating those raspberries may have caused the whole thing. Your thoughts?

I like turtles

Such a well written and entertaining article. Cracked a few laughs, because I totally googled if I was going to die. Not literally, but it was a thought that crossed my mind. Cheers. -@EdwardPValle

Thanks for letting us know about moulds!

I had bought a box of Girl Scout cookies a while ago and started eating some without looking without They tasted kind of bitter but I was like "lol whatever" and kept eating them. After the fourth one I looked down into the box and realized they were all moldy and shit. I feel kind of stupid but fine otherwise.

So, silly me, I wanted a yogurt drink and felt adventurous so I got strawberry-banana kefir. Got home so late and just couldn't wait to try out, took a big swig and was appalled. It was fizzy, the way mandarin oranges are if they've been out too long. I intended to storm the local Wal-Mart and demand a refund but fortunately I procrastinated. Long enough to google kefir. And learned that is it's nature and all about the wonderful things it can do for you, using helpful bacteria to combat bad stuff in your colons, and replace bad bacteria with good which we rely on to survive. Huh. So I downed the rest of the large bottle and felt great for days. So, just like some mold is beneficial (penicillin if you aren't allergic, which I am) and some bacteria are good as well (cultures in red wine, kefir, who knows what else), our bodies usually have the ability to resist bad stuff (even bacteria, poisons and viruses) if we build up resistance over time.

I had a croissant just got them 3 days ago and then got one to drink with my coffee then I put it down and relies their was mold ewwww now I feel like my asma came back

Oh My Goodness! Some o' you guys are hiLARious!!! Meant to do a quick read cuz my berries (mainly blackberries and raspberries) tend to grow white fuzzies before I get to enjoy'em all...but ended up reading this to the end. I may never come back here, but thanx for the encouragement that I shall live with some mold I may have ingested here'n there without realizing it, and making me totally CRACK UP after getting off of work @ 3am! Sat in my car in the driveway for about 15min reading replies before I got out to walk in the house and read more ^_^

As for milk, I prefer it "normal" but my friend's mother of Albanian descent, from Macedonia, takes the milk, ferments it into a type of buttermilk, which *I* cannot stand the taste of (except buttermilk biscuits or doughnuts!). Also...the Japanese (of which I'm half) have a dish called "natto "which is feremented soy beans...and they LOOK, SMELL & TASTE like spoiled beans!!! I tried it for the 1st time with my ramen set, lady warned me I should try something else but I said I wanted to try it because I know several friends who love it, and I almost DIED (not from food poisoning, but cuz of the TASTE!)! TRIED eating a lot of rice with it, but could not handle the slimy texture and smell...nor taste! AU YA!

*AY YA!

So... Am I going to die?... I WAS EATING PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICHES AND THEN I NOTICED GREEN SPOTS ON THE BREAD!!!! THEN, IT WAS ON ALL THE BREADS. I ATE 5 OF THEM!!!!!! :( I don't want to die!!!

Had my tonsils removed and everything was going just fine - pain level was a low #2 on the scale - I was eating soft foods such as bananas, yogurt, peaches, easy to eat soups, etc. - thought I was doing just perfect until my mother gave me some cut strawberries which I ate, then after about five of them, I saw the green mold. Three weeks later I came down with a very severe facial palsy. Could it have been the mold I digested that caused this disease?

Omg!Thankyou all for the laughs!I am not even worried about getting diarrhea from 4 spote of white fuzzy stuff on my bread crust. And if I do it's been work it!

well a few months back i recall chewing into a massive date at work. I noticed that this date was cooler than usuall and was very powdery. I soon began to cough paroxysmally with desperation before I realised what had just happened. I immediately ran to the kitchen and drank water (my teeth had black powder and everything else). The coughing was quite bad! It was like an unintentional version of eating a spoonful of cinnamon powder like that youtube sensation many moons ago done by certified idiots of our society.

i was fine the next day I didn't die or antyhing like that.

i'm on here again because it just happened again today with another stupid date! This time I didn't happen to inhale the dust but still ate a bit.

I was and also am now completely sobre and intact with my senses, so there was no high or psychedelic experience.

I just made myself some toast and I took a bite but then I noticed there was mold where I bit... I am wondering what should I do... Just eat it peacefully?

I think I just ate mood and I not feeling good so I don't now what I'm supposed to do

I agree that all the posts are too funny. I sprayed some redi whip on my pancakes, afterwards I noticed mold on the ridge of the sprayer/spout. Gross! That means someone in the house probably sprayed it into their mouth!

i agree

4 ALL U SWISS CHEESE EATERS I USED 2 B A TRUCK DRIVER I HAULED CHEESE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY ONCE IN A WHILE I WOULD PICK UP A LOAD OF MOLDY CHEESE IN WI N TAKE IT 2 PA 2 A SWISS CHEESE FACTORY THERE THEY WOULD TAKE THAT MOLDY CHEESE THAT COULDNT BE SOLD N MAKE SWISS CHEESE OUTA IT SO DONT B WORRIED BOUT EATING MOLDY CHEESE

If I eat a little molded cheese or peice of molded bread, the spores won't get stuck in my intestines and continue to produce more spores

I canned spaghetti with meat sauce 3 weeks ago. I went into the cellar and noticed white/greenish mold on the inside of a few canning jars. the seals were still good. I cooked the sauce about 12 hours prior to putting the food in canning jars. The jars sealed. I didn't reprocesses the jars in the canner.
I have today taken all mold at the top off inside of all jars and recooked the good sauce. I am starting the process of canning the jars now. Do I have to worry about toxins in this product in the future. Is this safe. I am going to put in the cellar for a couple of months before we use. Do you think this is enough time.

I work at dunkin donuts when I went on break I made myself a strawberry coolatta after coming back I looked into coolatta machine while manager was getting ready to clean it to find it was full of mold.. I had a sour stomach the rest of my day at work and when I got home had diareah do you think I possibly ate toxic mold?

there was some mold on the lid and rim of a jar of tomato sauce I was saving to can. Can I remove the mold and boil the sauce making it safe to can?

For a few days my mother has been using lots of vanilla creamer that I've commented to her about as seeming to have curdled bits in. But its artificial I think, not natural dairy. I just opened the lid and found green mold floating near the surface.

My question is this. Fresh raspberries get mold within a few days. However if I mix them in a large container of yogurt they seem fine for a week or more. Do they actually get moldy, but I can't see it, or are they protected from mold once mixed into the yogurt?

If you are eating a hamburger bun and you did not notice mold on the bread then when you decide to go to bed and you feel like a wierd feeling that you might puke is that a sign that the mold is getting make sick.

Thank you all, especially the creator of this post, for reassuring me that I am (probably) not going to die. I was so hungry, so I grabbed some chips and hummus out of the fridge and started just blindly eating it. I had 3-4 chips with pretty big scoops of hummus and thought it tasted weird, but that maybe it just needed to be stirred up. So I grabbed a spoon, went to stir, and looked down to see mold all around the whole container!!! Well, except for on the top layer of course, since I had just scarfed that whole part up. My first reaction was: I should go puke. Second reaction: I hate puking. Then, I sent a text to my husband to see what he thought about it (his response: You'll probably get high). Lastly, I decided to Google it to see if I was going to die, which brings me here! I needed the laughs, and I had many good ones while reading through this! I must add that I love "check your priv". Fingers crossed that I'll make it through this first world problem. Thanks again, everyone!

Hi,
I have an allergy to penicillin, (it caused a severe itchy rash and liver damage last time I took it). About an hour ago I drank down a glass of pure orange juice, which seemed OK to begin with, but then when I swallowed the last of it, there was a disgusting sick and bitter taste, I looked at the base of the glass and it had white slime with blue speckles in it. Any idea if this is penicillin and if this will cause me any harm? My tongue feels sore, is red and slightly swollen.

I had trouble shaking some black pepper out of a metal shaker. Shook a small amount on my food & ate it. Later I checked the pepper container--- smelled like mold . Unreal ! Got on your blog. Got such a small amount, I am not too worried. But that was DEFINITELY a first. Moldy pepper? " Godfry Daniel", as WC Fields used to say. Just for curiosity, is there any danger from this?

Forgot to check the 'follow up comment' box on my last entry

@Erin, Me tooo!!!! I just hate hummus and crackers. I googled this and this thread came up because I too just ate some crackers and hummus that I now see has mold, AFTER already eating half. What makes it so bad is that I usually love hummus and this was just really bad. Not just that it has mold, but it was just not a good recipe. Was wondering if I was going to be sick!!! The moldy part was under part of the top that I had not peeled back. I'm curious what brand yours was. Mine was L**ly. I won't type the whole thing in case it is not allowed.

Hay
the real question is,
if I eat mold
well I poop out penicillin pills?
ooo the money I would generate..
*sigh

What about the mold on top of maple syrup

Thanks for the informative article, and thank you even more so commenters, for the intrigue. So, last week I had some friends over, they brought me a crème brûlée. I thanked them politely for their fancy pants food and shoved it to the back of the fridge, claiming that I had just eaten as sly ruse. Anyway, I was fairly hungry just earlier, so I took the crème brûlée, and started micro-nibbling it, I couldn't quite a get an idea of what it tasted like as the particles were really too small, so I progressed with a more mainstream type of nibble, about halfway through it, I spied a tiny, what I could only call specket, of something. It was purple and a bit flaky or perhaps fuzzy, at first I thought it was moving but then I realised my head was wavering due to my staring so intently. I tried to pick it out with my fingernail, yet I only drove it deeper into the as yet unexplored crème brûlée. So, I immediately put the crème brûlée down, I can't stress that enough. Then I started pacing around the crème brûlée as it lay on the counter, trying to nonchalenty observe it. I am at a loss on how to proceed, any suggestions ?

This thread is making me guffaw...a lot.

I got here because I ate some hummus in the dark and was a new kind for me (with rosemary). I just thought it was the new taste, but lo and behold, I went to put it away in the fridge and noticed it was swirled with blue/black. I'm assuming mold, because rosemary is not blue nor black. I'm not worried because I'll pretty much each anything. That might kill me one day, I guess...

Well Thank You Greg. I just ate a couple sandwiches that tasted funny, moldy, and was concerned about it. Now, I won't worry so much. As far as these grammer hounds go... Ya can't please everyone nor fix stupid. Thanx again Greg.

I accidently took one drink of a soda on my night stand that had grown mold, thinking it was my drink from last night. This was at 6am and it is now 8:45am and I don't feel sick or anything. Since it was just one sip, will I be okay?

So I just took a huge swig of Kefir smoothie only to realize after that it expired on 01/01/2016!!! Thats 2.5 months past the expiration date and I just bought it from the health food store 3 hours ago! So now ofcorse, I am completely freaking out and and worried that I just ingested something that is going to make me very sick! :(

But what if I ate the WHOLE sandwich and waited several hours before saying "oh crap. I ate some mold"???

When making my PB&J this morning, I saw a little white dot in the strawberry jelly. Wasn't sure what it was, so scooped it out and continued making my sandwich. I just ate lunch and it didn't taste bitter and I didn't see any mold growing. Do you think it was mold and do you think I'll get sick?

I was having some Nutella, then I saw a white thing in it. I think it was mold. I only had a tiny tiny bit of it. Will I get sick?

My big mistake i made i made sauces for meatballs well, i had half jar in my frig and i dump it into the sauce to make more and then i realize wow under lid there were mold but sauce was smell good, now i am worry. Should i throw away or let family ear it i realize it expire 4 month ago siting in my frig. What worst that can happen to me n my family?

What happens if a kid opened a tub of sour cream and it splattered on her food?

Just ate a piece of commercial beef jerky that unknown to me, was laying on top of a very moldy piece. The taste was off, but I finished that bite. It was when I looked into the bag that I saw it. No one has mentioned mold on meat. What do you think?

WHY can't I be like a dog and take a tiny sniff of something and know right if I need to steer clear or give it a go... darn it. Well ya, sure would've saved my sick body. And my broken heart too. People probably won't believe this but God love her but my momster is a... she's not always normal basically. So when I was young I ate (this is no joke) alot of mold. If I was lucky! I was so hungry all the time. Hunger pains kept me in a fetal position trying so hard to get to sleep. Right about the time I'd recovered from the prior food poisoning, she'd think up smthn new and worse. When I was 16 years old I went to visit her. She had this new husband etc etc. I was quickly admitted to the ER.i had ptomaine poisoning. And I was very sick. For 16 give/take years I was her proxy. I finally had to accept it. I knew smthn was wrong because when i'd go stay with my dad or my Nana the food tasted heavenly and I never got sick. Not many people will agree with this andv that's fine. IMO munchausen's is not a real disease/syndrome. It's a fancy name for a sorry excuse for I have my own kids. I'm 45 years old and I can say this NOW, I have been a mother for 21 years. Get my babes sick? Hurt my own kids because I think I need attention? I call you know what! I didn't know how iwould fare being a mom. I struggled with that thought. Until the day I had my first. I could NEVER do the things that momster did to me. It still hurts and I do miss having someone to love me the way I adore my kids..the unconditional love. Beside their daddy I'm their fiercest protector. All 100 pounds of me. Haha. I think everyone on this thread and those who'll come later- if you ate mold I think you'll be okay. My tummy aches would be from the anxiety of eating mold. But a 700pm bedtime OMG the hunger pains/pangs, locked in my bedroom the whole night -THAT was awful. I would pray to God, please make me a grown up.i will a great grown up God please. Well He answered my prayer. One day couple years back it dawned on me- there I was praying for the youthful years.wishing I could know what being a child was like. I was an adult in a child's body. But at that time- I wanted to have that young body back also! Go figure. Spend all those young years wishing I was grown-up, my grown-up years wishing Ii was a child..
Lol. I suppose the grass is always greener

Don't worry yourself sick all because you ate mold. I agree with the writer. And chances are that you'll be a okay. But don't trip suck it up. You're OKAY.
THANKS for reading my story. It's sad. And it is true. I'm glad I'm nothing like my momster. I'm happy for my kiddos too. And I'm lucky they love me and always remind me of it too. So you know- I am actually okay. Ifi i don't send this now- then I never will. GOD BLESS ALL GOOD PEOPLE.♡♡
Heres to you, mold .

WHY can't I be like a dog and take a tiny sniff of something and know right if I need to steer clear or give it a go... darn it. Well ya, sure would've saved my sick body. And my broken heart too. People probably won't believe this but it's true. My mom. God love her but my momster is a... she's not the avg mm basically. When I was young I ate (this is no joke) alot of mold. And that's if I was lucky! I was so hungry all the time. Hunger pains kept me in a fetal position trying so hard to get to sleep. Bedtime was 7pm- for HER convenience. Right about the time I'd recovered from her latest food poisoning experiment, she'd be working up the next one. I moved to my dad's when I was 15. When I was 16 I went to visit her. She had this new husband. If it weren't for him I wouldn't have made it to the hospital. .i had ptomaine poisoning. And I was very sick. For 16 give/take years I was her proxy. I finally had to accept it. But I knew smthn was wrong because when i'd go stay with my dad or my Nana the food tasted heavenly and I never got sick. Not many people will agree with this and that's fine. IMO munchausen's is not a real disease/syndrome. It's a fancy name for a sorry excuse for hurting someone you should be loving and protecting
Years later- I have my own kids. I'm 45 years old and I can say this NOW, since I have been a mother for 21 years. IF SOMEONE EVER WERE TO HARM MINE THERE'D BE HELL TO PAY! I didn't know how i would BE being a mom. I struggled with that thought. Often. I worried about genetic predispositions UNTIL the day I had my first. I could NEVER do to my kids the things that momster did to me. It still hurts and I do miss having someone to love me the way I adore my kids..that unconditional love. Beside their daddy I'm their fiercest protector. All 100 pounds of me! Haha. I think everyone on this thread and those who'll come later- if you're worried about eating mold on accident etc I really think you'll be okay. My tummy aches would be from the anxiety of eating mold. But a 700pm bedtime OMG the hunger pains/pangs, whatever- locked in my bedroom the whole night -THAT was awful. I would pray to God, please make me agrown up. Please God. A couple years ago I found myself reflecting. Ironic it seemed- I'd Spent all those young years wishing I was grown-up, and my grown-up years wishing Ii was a young again.. but with good healthy...normal people in my life
Lol. I suppose the grass is always greener

But don't worry yourself sick because you ate mold. I agree with the writer. And chances are that you'll be a-okay. Don't trip, suck it up. You're gonna be OKAY.
THANKS for reading my story. It's sad. And it is true. And it's LIFE
I'm glad I'm nothing like my momster. ICAN THANK HER FOR THAT! I'm so lucky my kids love me as much as they do. They're always reminding me. For that I know I'm blessed. And believe it or not ya- I am actually okay. But i know If i don't send this now- I'll chicken out and I never will.
GOD bless us all good people.♡♡
Yep. All this- yes novel I know- all in the name of MOLD.
Wow

I wasn't really paying attention and there was a small patch on the side of the whip cream can the white part of the can and I are some but I didn't see anything on it. What do I do?

I ate a little bread with soup and after i ate the little chunk of bread i saw light green spots with slight white and its not very visible but i just wanna see if im ok

My opinion, we are more at risk, in the main, from excessive use of antibacterial and other 99.9% pure and/or clean products, which really are harmful, than the occasional bit of slightly past it food. Of course there are exceptions.

In particular, if you raise a child in a sterile environment, that child will be more likely to have allergies and get sick than one who is raised in a more "normal" environment. We develop resistance to normal exposure.

Also, a lot of those hyper cleaning products, in addition to being harmful to the environment, are directly harmful as they are quite strong chemicals. For example, if you drink things form pastic bottles and they get warm, some of that is carcinogenic.

Moderation in all things!

If you have the runs, it will likely pass. If not, go see a doctor.

Hey all... I didnt notice but my tea bag holder had a load of white fluffy mold growing on it, i had a spoon resting on the top of them and i used that spoon to stir my tea... Is this bad, I'm never usually bothered about mold on food but is this different being on damp old tea bags?

i have ate frothy green mold from a jar of cherry preserve . how toxic is it? i have in the past reaction to penicillin .

Check your privilege white devil! Hand over dem moldy potatoze

So i had a block cheese from heluva good, it was sharp cheese, i ate some n realized, it tasted odd, n has PINK mold on it. Am i going to get food posioning from this?

I have just made a 'boiled fruit cake'. Apparently, 'cold tea' is a good replacement to plain water..... So, I have this rather exotic flowery, herby, organic tea in brown paper bags (expensive!) - that I could never be bothered to brew.....probably four years old. Yes, I sniffed it.... It looked a bit ..powdery...is that 'mouldy'..? Smells ...ok... I think.
I made some up in a cafeteria so as to strain it. Added.

Cakes cooking.... Having second thoughts... Here I am, after googling 'mouldy' matters. Hilarious thread, thanks everyone, the human family is SO funny, and poignant, and smart....and daft! We are all 'here' "just walking each other home.." as they say :) Now, the ping has just gone on the cooker.... Shall I eat it....? Bless you all x

Checked my privilege... And my sausage roll is still blossoming with green and white stuff... All over the pork... Bleurgh!
This article hasn't exactly explained anything... At all...

I fixed taco salad for supper & told my son to get out the sour cream & we didn't notice it until after everyone had ate & I was putting everything away that the sour cream had mold in it the date is still good. I think we all will be ok but my son is jumping up & down, running through the house saying were going to die & wanting me to get us all to the hospital. I told him we all would be fine but he's not going to have it any other way. So I told him I was writing the doctor to see what the doctor thought we should do. Please help me calm my son down. I

I had some bad tasting watermelon and saw a tiny bit of mold, My stomach is upset (but it normally is from anxiety) Is my stomach just upset from over thinking this?

I can totally agree that most molds, especially on food are not to serious. Unless you are immunocompromised, the acid in your stomach should kill both the mold and the spores. Some people are more susceptible to mold allergens, most are just going to not feel fantastic, but you'll make it.

I drink alot of green tea... I generally use Tetley decaffeinated tea and the approach I use is a gallon plastic jug. I throw 5 single serve bags in, fill it with water and stick it in the refrigerator. That usually lasts a few days..and when it gets low..I pull out the bags, throw some new bags in and fill it up again. Sometimes I rinse it out, sometimes I don't, sometimes it's not empty and I am just adding more bags and volume of which I usually remove the old bags, but not always.

For many many months, I have had, and still do have, a slight pain in my back, just inside my shoulder blade, perhaps at the very top of my right kidney. Right now, it is fairly low level, but it has been very uncomfortable, aching and even painful. But recently, it's been fairly low level. Additionally, and recently, for about the last 6 weeks, I have had incredibly sore back, about mid level high. (I have had lower back pain, and still do, due to bad discs. I have had neck and shoulder pain. This is neither.) This was a sore spot right on my spine at mid way, coupled with a very tender mid back on both sides. When I was sitting still, no problem. But as soon as I moved..and specifically if I was jolted, as if someone bumped into me, or I stopped suddenly from walking, or simply brushed the wall, I would get a rather intense pain on both side and at my spine.

As I'm a guy, a 'pseudo-bachelor', and an older one at that, with dislike for most things and most people, because frankly, I think the world is full of incompetence, dishonesty and crookedness, I push off going to the doctor to get his 30 seconds of generally misdirected 'wisdom'. But in fact, I had (and have at time of writing) an appointment about 4 weeks ahead now anyway, and thought I would just wait until then to deal with it. I am also a former research scientist and engineer, and have (or had) a career cleaning up after the engineer execution incompetence of others. So I have a keen eye for detail, and a general curiosity.

So as it turns out, about 2 days ago, I again noticed the tea container I was using had some dark spots on the container walls. Historically, I had just rinsed out the container and ignored them, but as my pain had really been intensifying, I decided to 'thoroughly' clean the container. Which I did, with a scrub brush and soap, nothing special. I went back to my usual regimen of tea drinking and within 48 hours, my back had cleared up. I still have a very low level pain on my right side, but the intense pain was gone. I did absolutely nothing else different in my routine than this. And I deliberately executed this way suspecting a possible connection and monitored the result to gauge the effect of the cleaning. I could of course replicate the mold again and thus, check my hypothesis, but I am not a big fan of this type of pain and think I will pass. I am 'thoroughly' convinced (maybe not proven scientifically) that this was a direct result of this mold.

The issue was so severe, that I literally contacted my estate advisor and updated my will as a precaution (partly due to this, partly due to other reasons, but this issue certainly helped to motivate). The moral of the story: people should thoroughly clean their tea containers if they are going to reuse them and not be the lazy bastard that I was. Granted, it probably took some time for the issue to build up to the extent that it did, but luckily for me, the body was able to recover extremely rapidly. (I have no idea of how a large a dose over a short time would impact me, as if I were to just drinking a single glass of moldy tea that was heavily dosed. So I can't comment to the short time, large dose impact.) I do not really know the magnitude of the dosage I experienced and how it may have varied over time. I can tell you that the issue was real. I fully attribute it to the moldy container and just writing this has led me to think about the low level pain on my right side which has existed for a long time now.

I am now planning to replace my plastic container with a new glass container and diligently wash it in the dishwasher every time and monitor my low level discomfort to see if there is any improvement.

Old:

I'm not convinced you have this right, though I suppose it is possible.

I wonder if what your "back" needed was some core exercise, which one tends to get by scrubbing and cleaning out an old plastic container. Or, maybe just a coincidence!

However, you are probably safer to assume that there is a problem, since avoiding the problem is easier.

It sounds like you are not making the green tea by boiling water. You might want to try that.

You might want to look up Kombucha. Perhaps you are accidentally making this, and Kombucha is said to sometimes get an unhealthy mold. I'm not sure if it really does or not.

Tea probably comes with a certain amount of mold on it already.

Have you considered Roibos?

I really hate people who pretend to be intelligent but arent.

The whole check your priv thing actually made someone mad? Wow...either they need to find somethin to do or feeling a little guilty for being wasteful. Nonetheless I think you adding a bit of humor to your writing for people who may have been in a panic. Nice job! ??

My sentence was supposed to say .. I think you adding a bit of humor to your writing for people who may have been in a panic was great.

I actually eat old moldy fruits and veges since, it's organic and nothing goes to waste. I mix the old fruits and beges with the new and blend them for juicing. I feel great taking them too lmao. I will keep doing it because so far, I have not been sick and need no medicine from doctors. Plus I have tons of herbs. Yup I self medicate myself.

Black mold can also cause urinary problems as well. You might find yourself with symptoms of a urinary tract infection. You might also have problems urinating. Some people urinate more frequently and feel thirsty all the time. All of these things could be attributed to black mold. http://www.floodaz.com/what-do-you-do-if-exposed-to-black-mold/

what people fail to realize is that mold in fact can be triggered by a foreign substance impregnated into organic material...example... fingernails often puncture produce"fruits and vegetables" or resistant bacteria on hands you never know who touched what....Get it !! I mean do not live in total fear... i take my chances on sushi... i have eaten mold "lsd" as a teen .... sorry off subject ...and have worked in a sick building before.... my whole point to this is get an air / ozone purifier for a little protection at home . my fruit lasts on the shelf a week longer and you can treat water with ozone as well and soak stuff. I am feeling better since.. leaving me to believe every day exposure and accidental ingestion can in fact diminish quality of life. a little clean goes a long way...just don't over do it

Everybody looks at this from and very toxic, or lethal angle, but mold causes a lot of symptoms to anyone who eats it. A good example is take 10 people and have them eat a pear, from a bunch of pears that were allowed to get moldy and then washed off and then frozen for latter selling. This happens a lot in organic food stores and you'll find that most all of the people that eat these pears after thawing are tasting mold in the pears, and then getting some pretty nasty allergic responses that take days to drop off. Feeling bad for days to me is reason enough not to downplay mold. It's a potent yeast and the body usually has plenty of yeast due to our sugar laden diets. Yeast/candida is found at every cancer site on the body, so go figure.

I ate a small amount of mold on some cheese I'm 12 what should I do ?

I poured tomato sauce on cooked spaghetti and didn't notice the mold on the cap until after the spaghetti was consumed. There was no mold on the sauce but I poured it out of the jar. What is going to happen? What signs should I look for? also, I washed the cap off in the sink. couldd the spores have become airborne?

There are mold spores everywhere, no need to worry about that.

I'm sure there is not a problem with a little mold in the cap. But, it is always good to cook the sauce before you use it. You use a pan for that (sauce pan).

I once ate a dessert that was yellow. Then later I noticed it was green on the bottom. Tried to trick my friend when he ate it, telling him it was moldy, but he didn't fall for it, knowing it was made from pistachios. Then the joke was on me as it really was mold.

"Check your privilege"

Way to forfeit your credibility. Cant avoid SJW bullcrap anywhere now.

I read "check your priv" and had no idea what that meant. The first thing I thought of was "privy" as in a toilet or outhouse, and I was like, "What? Why would I check my toilet? What does that have to do with anything?"

Yes, wasting good food is a problem, but if someone sees mold and doesn't know that it's harmless, is it really so incomprehensible to want to be safe? People don't avoid mold for purely aesthetic reasons, they avoid it because they've heard it can be dangerous and they cannot identify which types are safe.
If eating safe food without mold on it is such an unnecessary, "First World" privilege, why stop there? Your rant about social issues could have been conveyed within the first few sentences. All you needed was "you just ate half a sandwich" so check your privy- oops, I meant privilege.

Bad rich people, eating food without mold! Bad Americans, eating half sandwiches! You should feel ashamed! Eat that mold! If you get sick, it's alright. At least starving children in Africa will... well, they'll still be starving.

I don't think we should throw away all food that has the slightest bit of mold, but I do think it's silly to bash people who've done this before. We've all heard that mold can be dangerous, and it can be, or else articles and blogs clarifying the issue wouldn't even exist. Trying to avoid food poisoning does not make someone excessively privileged or wasteful.

Throwing out food for aesthetic reasons is a "first world" problem. Throwing out food because you're worried it might make you sick is a problem anyone could have. Even people too poor to eat every day might throw away food if they'd heard it could get them sick or kill them. They couldn't afford to be sick! The problem here isn't wastefulness, it's lack of knowledge and familiarity with mold. And it's not entirely misplaced, since some people can have allergies or sensitivities without knowing it, and some molds can, in fact, be dangerous.

I just ate 5 slices of whole grain bread before I realised the white spiderweb like mold on the sides. I'm a bit worried because its probably a "rhizopus mold" and these are very harmful to your health. I don't know if I should visit the doctor or just hope that I'll be ok.

Hi! Just discovered I chewed some gum given to me by a friend and discovered how mouldy it is. I've thrown the gum away but still feel unwell. Tongue also covered in white substance. Should I be worried?

"It happens when you are not paying attention" aka high as mt. Vesteuvivus.

my daughter and I went to this fast food restaurant and we ordered hamburgers. as my daughter was eating hers she saw something on her bread and it was MOLD... nasty...I then looked at mines and it had small green spots but hers was by the size of a quarter and all the way through the bread. please watch what u eat at these hamburgers places..

It tastes great and my bottom has been squirting all night.

What does mould do to lungs???

i just was about to have another pizza and it had mold on it :(