Sunday 11 October 2015

Which Mouldy Food Is Safe To Eat?

I have had a long running dispute with the rest of my family that the mouldy bit on cheese can be cut off and the rest eaten because after all cheese is just mould anyway.
There counter-argument is that i don't know what i'm talking about and they wouldn't eat it if i held a gun to their head which would make dinner-time easier but is frowned upon by several of the Child Protection Societies so we all watched the documentary 'Trust Me, I'm a Doctor' with interest when the subject turned to 'When is mouldy food still safe to eat'.
The first up was bread which the expert said should be thrown away if it has orange, yellow or black mould spots as these can be more harmful and give you a stomach ache. Fair enough, no mouldy toast for hubby in the morning.
Then it was Jam which we were told is perfectly safe if you scoop off all of the mould and a few centimetres beneath it.
Fruits are safe to eat once you've removed the mould, as their acidity prevents harmful bacteria from growing although apples can be harmful as they can produce a toxin when mouldy.
Mouldy vegetables should be avoided and so should mouldy nuts and seeds as they go off they produce an incredibly dangerous toxin which can build in the liver and cause liver cancer.
Meat is unlikely to go mouldy, but it can grow some nasty bacteria although the mould on dry cured meats or salami is entirely harmless.
Finally we got to the cheese, both hard and soft, with the verdict being it is entirely safe to cut off the
mouldy bits of hard cheese and use the rest. Apparently cheese is so dense that below the surface there isn't enough oxygen to allow the mould to thrive, so it doesn't get very far down.
My jubilation and shouts of 'IN YOUR FACE' to my family members were short lived though as the expert moved onto the soft cheese which can do you real harm if eaten when mouldy and should be thrown away.
So an amicable score draw and an agreement that mouldy SOFT cheese sandwiches won't be making it's way into their lunch boxes anymore although those black banana's that have been in the fruit bowl for a fortnight could well be putting in an appearance.

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