What Happens When You Eat The ‘Clean’ Part of Moldy Bread

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For starters, there is no such thing as the ‘clean’ part of the mouldy bread. Cutting away the good part of the mould neither makes the bread nor the entire loaf of bread safe to eat. Still, want to eat it? Fine, take the gamble then!

Is Mold Just the Patch of Green on Your Moldy Bread?

No. Mold is a fungus, just like mushrooms. The green patch on your bread is easy to spot, but there is a vast network of subterranean roots called Hyphae which is invisible to the naked human eye. 

What is visible to us is already the reproductive part of the fungus called sporangium. Each sporangium on that bread releases tens of thousands of spores into the air.

Which is why you should probably throw the entire loaf of bread away.

Fun fact: The Statista Research Department stated that only 68% of bread manufactured is consumed in the United States, where 20% is wasted in the kitchen, and the remaining lost in the store.

 

But We Eat Mold All the Time!

Yes, mould is used all the time in our daily foods, sauces and condiments — consumables such as cheese, yoghurt, soy sauce and even the life-saving antibiotics penicillin. 

Thousands of different species of mould are generally harmless to humans. That being said, since it is impossible to know what species of mould is growing on your bread, it is a gamble if you were to consume it.

Ask yourself: Would you ever pick up a wild mushroom in the bushes and eat it? Is it worth the risk?

 

It Can Make You Sick Sometimes

Cladosporium, for instance, can trigger allergies in some people, be that as it may, is usually innocuous. Other moulds like Penicillium Crustosum can produce unsafe toxic substances called Mycotoxins.

Some toxic substances may only give temporary effects if consumed, but other moulds like Rhizopus stolonifer can bring permanent and disastrous consequences to your health. In fact, you might recognise Rhizopus stolonifer since it is the mould on bread that is super fuzzy, blue-green with black splotches.

Mucormycosis, previously known as zygomycosis, is also one of the rare but lethal possibilities if the mouldy bread contained mucormycetes. This is a life-threatening fungal infection.

How About Toasting the Moldy Bread?

Unfortunately, Mycotoxins do not react the same way bacteria does under heat. High temperatures are not able to break Mycotoxins down. 

That’s another myth busted.

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