When Is Moldy Food Safe to Eat?

green or white area, often fuzzy and texture. It can be widespread or appear to be isolated on just one section, and while it may look like the growth is only on the surface, mold is a fungus with a structure similar to a plant, roots, a stock, and spores. The roots, often invisible to the naked eye, can grow quite deep. The stock and spores are what you see on the surface, and the spores can go airborne, which can cause the mold to spread on the current object or contaminate neighboring foods.

You've heard the expression in one bad apple spoils the barrel. Often, if mold develops on one piece of food, it quickly spreads to other nearby food. Not all molds are bad, and some are normal and even desirable. Some cheeses, such as roquefort, are speckled with characteristic blue green veins. To achieve this quality, cheesemakers introduce a friendly, edible type of

mold during the manufacturing process. The resulting cheeses are perfectly safe to eat, uniquely creamy and very popular, although admittedly boast a funky and acquired taste. But other molds can cause problems. Some cause allergic reactions or induce respiratory distress, which is why you shouldn't sniff at a moldy product. And some molds produce poisonous substances called mycotoxins, which can cause serious illness. So what about that tasty peach you

were looking forward to. Because of its soft texture and high moisture content, it's likely that further invisible contamination exists beyond just the surface. It's safer to send that item to the compost bin than risk illness. For complete guidelines on what foods are safe and aren't based on current research, it's best to check with your government's food safety education resources.

For example, the United States Department of Agricultures. Food Safety and Inspection Service has a great guide at f s i S dot USDA dot gov. But here's a starter guide on which moldy foods to toss and which to trim, because while not all moldy foods are a total loss, some should be skipped. Foods that are soft and moist are the most likely to be dangerous because the mold may be growing deeper into the product than it appears.

So if you see mold on the following tassum lunch meats, bacon, hot dogs, cooked casseroles, cooked grains or pasta, breads and other baked goods, soft fruits and vegetables like a cucumbers, tomatoes or berries, jams and jellies, peanut butter, other lagoons

like beans, nuts, soft cheeses, yogurt, and sour cream. Some of these, particularly grain based products and certain produce tend to harbor molds that are particularly insidious because, as byproducts of liveing, they produce those mico toxins, which are poisonous. They can give you a really bad day or even contribute to diseases like cancer. While moldy cold cuts and lunch meats should be discarded hard salami and dry cured ham are an exception. For these items, you can safely

scrub the surface, removing the mold completely. For hard cheeses and hard fruits and vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and bell peppers, the food can be consumed after you trim away the mold. Be sure to trim at least an itch that's about two and a half centimeters around the offending area, and take care to avoid letting the knife make contact with the mold. If it does, stop and wash it with

hot soap and water to avoid cross contamination. It may be disappointing to toss out whole products, but it's always better to err on the side of caution. Today's episode was written by Debbie Swanson and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of other fresh topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, and for more pot cast from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

to your favorite shows. H