Sometimes we are just so hungry, that we don’t really care what we eat. We will reach for fast food, fried food, or if it is really late at night, moldy or even expired food. When we are hungry, we are hungry, and sometimes that feeling can cloud our judgment. Even though you may have thought it was okay to eat moldy bread in the past, you might want to think again.
We often use bread for sandwiches for ourselves, our kids for school, or a grab-and-go toast with jam for breakfast when we are on the run. Sometimes you reach for the loaf, open the bag and discover that mold has taken over parts of the bread, but not every piece. What do you do? Since you are in a hurry, you probably just discard the moldy pieces and still use the rest of the loaf thinking it is fine, right? Wrong.
To understand why it is not okay to eat moldy bread, let’s first take a walk back to science class. What is mold? According to Dr. Mercola, mold is a microscopic fungus that can live in organic matter. It often spreads through water or air, and there are over 300,000 types of different mold that exist. Some mold types contain spores you can see with the naked eye, while others require looking through a microscope.
I know what you are thinking–why are you saying mold is bad when there are types of mold that we actually eat regularly, such as cheeses? Some cheeses are derived from molds that is safe to eat – such as Brie, Gorgonzola, and Blue cheese. While these are safe to consume, however, it’s other types of mold you should be worried about, as they can be extremely toxic.
When you see the furry spots on your loaf of bread, or the dotted green speckles decorating it, throw the whole thing out. Even though you think you got rid of the moldy, potentially toxic pieces, it doesn’t mean that you did, simply because you may not be able to see other spores that spidered out beneath the surface of each individual piece. It is also always recommended that you discard any food item that was close to the moldy item, as that could be contaminated as well.
Eating bread that contains mold on it, whether it was intentional by you or not, can cause harmful threats to your body. One example is the spores or bacteria from the moldy pieces of bread can enter into your respiratory system, thus causing breathing problems, according to The New York Times. You could also end up getting severe allergic reactions from it as well, neurological disorders, and sometimes it can even cause death.
If you are against throwing out food completely, then remember that mold is more dangerous in terms of soft foods in which it is highly recommended that you immediately throw it out. For hard foods, such as meat and cheeses, if you are adamant about not throwing food away, then cut the mold out along with a little safety room of about one additional inch.
The best way to safeguard yourself and your family from accidentally consuming moldy bread is to store your bread properly to avoid this from happening. Make sure you are not storing your bread in an area where the moisture from the air or water could contaminate your loaf and lead to mold growth.
Via: http://healtheternally.com/