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What Happens If You Accidentally Eat Mold?
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WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY EAT MOLD?

By Kalea Martin and John TolleyDec. 15, 2021 2:34 pm EST
Passakorn Shinark/Shutterstock

There are few things more disappointing than being in the mood for a simple
slice of toast, then realizing your bread has been contaminated with specks of
fuzzy green mold. Sometimes it's the whole loaf that's affected. Other times,
it's only certain areas that you can easily cut off. But what if you're in a
rush and only notice the mold after you've taken a bite? If you've ever eaten
any sort of moldy food accidentally (or just took a risk that you now regret),
don't fret. In most cases, it's not a big deal. 

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Your digestive and immune systems should have it all taken care of. As long as
you're relatively healthy and don't have a mold allergy, the gastric acid in
your stomach, along with your immune response, should keep you from getting ill.
Any vomiting or nausea you might experience would be more likely to happen
because of your personal disgust. Technically speaking, your body doesn't need
to purge any ingested mold. 

Don't take this as a go-ahead to chow down on fuzzy food, however. Mold is not
100 percent safe and, in certain cases, can make even healthy folks pretty sick.
A kind of mold known as mycotoxins is even linked to cancer, says the World
Health Organization. To be fair, these are usually only present in agricultural
environments and hopefully not in your home kitchen. Still, if you want to be
certain that you're safe, you'll be best off tossing that moldy food.

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IF YOU CUT MOLD OFF FOOD, IS IT SAFE TO EAT?

Rungsuriya Chareesri/Shutterstock

According to the USDA, most moldy foods are just too risky to eat. That applies
when food is fully covered in mold and even when you can cut off the affected
part. The only exceptions are long-lasting hard cheeses, cured meats, and
certain fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables with low moisture content
and density, such as carrots or cabbage, can potentially be salvaged. Just make
sure they haven't gone soft, then cut away the affected spot at least one inch
around the mold. Be careful not to touch the mold with your knife, lest
cross-contamination occur.

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The same method applies to hard cheeses, too. With cured meat, however, it's
okay to just scrub the fuzzy stuff off, as surface mold is a natural part of
this product and should be safe. That said, any other type of food must be
discarded whenever mold is present, as the risk of getting sick from
contaminated foodstuffs is higher and simply isn't worth the risk to your
health. 

All told, it's best to just not go out of your way to consume moldy food of any
kind. However, if it does happen by accident, know that it's not the worst thing
in the world. Just remember to take a more careful look at your meal before you
dig in next time.


IS ALL MOLD BAD?

Erhan Inga/Shutterstock

There are over 100,000 types of mold, but not all of them are the types you
commonly find in food. If you see that tale-tell fuzziness on your meat or
poultry, it's likely one of a dozen or so common types of mold like Botrytis,
Geotrichum, Oidium, Penicillium, or Thamnidium. 

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It should be understood that if you see mold on the surface of any fresh meat,
poultry, or seafood, the whole product should be disposed of immediately. As
discussed above, though, the mere presence of mold is not necessarily a sign
that food must be chucked. In addition to being able to safely scrub off mold
that appears on the exterior of things like salami and hard cheese, there are
some molds that are not just harmless, but an integral part of food production.

Mold from the Penicillium genus — yes, it's also what the antibiotic penicillin
is derived from — helps give cheeses like Camembert, Brie, and Roquefort their
distinct flavor and appearance. The molds in operation here don't behave
differently than other molds, but the carefully-controlled conditions under
which they are produced and developed don't allow for the molds to produce
harmful mycotoxins.

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HOW DOES MOLD GET ON YOUR FOOD?

Vera Larina/Shutterstock

Mold is all around you. More specifically, mold spores are all around you, but
due to their microscopic size and inability to affect you, you never notice
them. There are, though, molds that can have a profound effect on human health.
Stachybotrys Atra is commonly referred to as black mold, and its presence in a
home can spell trouble. Though not yet directly linked to any health problems,
it is believed that black mold can cause breathing problems in those already
predisposed to respiratory illness.

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Mold finds its way onto your food much the same way black mold finds its way
into parts of homes that are damp and hospitable. The spores by chance land on a
piece of food that suits their needs. You, of course, won't notice at first, but
soon a colony will form and sprout hyphae, the threadlike structures you see as
mold's telltale fuzziness. While it isn't exactly a pleasant thought that our
foods are constantly being bombarded by mold spores in search of a home, rest
assured that it is an important part of the natural ballet that keeps the life
cycle spinning. 


PREVENTING MOLD AT HOME

Marykor/Shutterstock

You can't entirely prevent mold from making its way onto your foods. Fruit,
meat, cheese, and everything else you store away in your pantry, refrigerator,
and freezer comes into contact with outside air. This happens in the natural
growing environment, at production and packaging facilities, in transport, at
the grocer, and in your home. Airtight packaging helps minimize exposure, but no
form of packaging can fully eliminate it.

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There are, however, steps you can take at home to lessen the threat of mold
devouring your food before you've had a chance to consume it. First, all
airtight containers should be left just as they are until you are ready to use
the food inside. For produce that is sold fresh, unpackaged, or in packaging
that is to some degree porous, it is helpful to shop for seasonal, locally-grown
items in small quantities. This ensures freshness and reduces the amount of
handling and damage done to produce in transit. 

Additionally, keeping your kitchen, refrigerator, and food storage containers as
clean as possible goes a long way in reducing the presence of mold spores.
Temperature is also an important consideration as mold thrives in a warm moist
environment. Isotherm bags and refrigeration are critical in slowing the spread
of mold on food.

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FOOD INDUSTRY MEASURES TO COMBAT MOLD

CGN089/Shutterstock

Food science is an expansive field with a variety of aims, one of which is
preventing food spoilage by way of reducing microbial activity. Mechanical
methods of food preservation that have been used for centuries included
freezing, drying, and pasteurization, a process of rapid heating and cooling
that halts some microbial activity. Additionally, irradiation and exposure to
high pressure are more recent additions to the toolbox of food producers looking
to extend the shelf-life of their goods. Packaging, while imperfect as discussed
above, can offer some relief from mold. Wax paper impregnated with cinnamon oil,
cellophane, and plant-based materials have all been shown to help reduce mold
activity and transmission.

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At the chemical level, a number of preservatives are employed to combat mold. If
you've ever seen a loaf of fresh artisan bread get covered in mold, you know
that baked goods and pastries are especially susceptible. Propionates, sorbates,
benzoates, parabens, and acetic acid are the most common chemical additives
applied to baked goods, and each has its advantages and drawbacks. Some, such as
propionates, have little impact on the final product, whereas others, such as
sorbates and benzoates, can inhibit the activity of yeast — another type of
fungus — and fermentation, and are used more judiciously or have found use in
foods other than baked goods, such as jams.

Although the food industry puts tremendous effort into preventing mold growth
throughout production, it's impossible to completely eliminate the risk in the
process just as you can't completely prevent it at home either. When some of
your food inevitably grows an unwelcome fungal friend, just know not all mold is
bad, and it can be cut away from certain foods and safely eaten — for everything
else there's always the trash bin. 

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