Moldy yogurt should not be eaten. Adobe Stock / AOP
Sometimes it happens that there is a forgotten bag at the bottom of the bread box, the contents of which have gotten moldy. Can you eat bread anymore?
Mold itself is often not dangerous, but its metabolites may be.
– Even if only a small spot of mold is visible in the bread, the bread should not be eaten, because the invisible molds have already spread through the entire bread, executive director of Leipätieðutus Kaisa Mensonen said in an interview with Iltalehti in 2018.
– The same applies to a bag with several pieces of bread, because mold spores spread in a closed bag.
Slicing increases the bread’s susceptibility to mold. Adobe Stock / AOP
Acidity prevents mold growth. That’s why sour rye bread, even sliced, keeps better than light unleavened bread. The use of acids produced in the dough, such as acetic and lactic acid, as acidity regulators, reduces the need for preservatives.
– Mold spores do not grow in the dry crust of bread. However, slicing the bread brings out a more moist and mold-sensitive interior, Mensonen continues in an interview with Iltalehti.
Although it is not recommended to eat moldy foods, you can, at your own discretion, cut off a moldy piece from, for example, hard cheeses.
Sometimes the fruit is already in the mold in the store. E. Boros
But there are also foods that should not be eaten under any circumstances if they contain mold.
According to the Food Agency, jams and juices, for example, should not be eaten or drunk. In addition to the mold layer, there is mold poison in the entire product. Heating or processing food no longer destroys mold toxins.
Online publication Insider.com has also listed foods that should not be eaten if there is mold on the surface: yogurt, pasta sauces, sour cream, soft cheese.
Even if you can’t see mold after scraping it off, that doesn’t mean the food is edible. Some molds produce toxic substances that can cause an allergic reaction, so it is better to be careful.