Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
OT Fungus on food question???
Barry Irby
If you had a (insert something to eat here) maybe a chocolate pie and it got a little patch of fuzzy mold on the surface, does that mold contaminate the whole pie or just the small area of the mold. Would you cut out a hunk with the mold on it and throw it away and eat the rest or would you toss the whole thing?
(Isn't this how they age steaks?)
If you think this is a revolting idea let me know, but only if you have some facts.
(Message Deleted by Poster)
Re: OT Fungus on food question???
Tom Dunlap
I opened a package of raspberries last night. A patch of fuzzy green on some of them. Careful dissection of the area with a spoon plus a little more.
Mixed the rest into yogurt. No upset tummy today. If I don't show up in the next couple of days...draw what conclusion you may.
According to the USDA
Dick Coers
"Foods that are moldy may also have invisible bacteria growing along with the mold. Yes, some molds cause allergic reactions and respiratory problems. And a few molds, in the right conditions, produce “mycotoxins,” poisonous substances that can make you sick."
My theory is that I spend a lot of money trying to stay healthy. I'd hate to get sick trying to save a few bucks. It would go in the trash in our home.
Re: According to the USDA
Yonak
The USDA statement doesn't say anything about bacteria existing any place beyond the mold culture. If it were an issue, I believe they would say it. To me, it seems like generously cutting away the moldy area should suffice.
Depends...
John in NM
My mom always said to just toss anything you doubted - roughly along the lines of Dick's logic, your health and even just your peace of mind is not worth a few bucks in replacing old food.
On the other hand, I've spent much of my working life at remote sites, and on occasion, cutting the mold off of a block of cheese was preferable to the other options. Cheese is the one thing where I don't even worry about it, though I tend to clean the knife between cuts to prevent mold re-growing the next day. But then I also don't even try to salvage moldy bread - simply not possible compared to something dense like cheese.
Scooping the mold off the top of an opened jar of jam or something similar used to be more commonly done in my grandparent's days. Food was not as cheap then. Most of my motivation is dislike of the taste of moldy food. I don't worry about the health consequences of a tiny amount of mold I missed on some cheese - it just reduces my enjoyment of the food.
The anaerobic bacteria in improperly canned goods would be a much bigger worry to me than a bit of aerobic mold.
Re: According to the USDA
Tom Dunlap
More food for thought.
I've been known to fall into my own false economy traps.
False Economy????
Barry Irby
OK, so I bought humus at Costco in the typical 55 gallon drum. Turns out I don't like it as much as I used to. Got some mold on it, so I scooped out a generous amount and ate some.
Now I have aches and pains and vacillate between slight fever and chills. So I go on line and find out they are doing Covid 19 tests right up the street. I go get in line. (Trump was there) After creeping forward for about half and hour they said I had to go on line and make an appointment. WTF? I'm here now, lets do it. No you have to make an appointment. Can't I do it in person, no on line only. I go back home and make an appointment at a different CVS. Creep through that line and it's the same thing. They claim I messed up one of the digits or something. I threatened to sit there until I died of covid.
In between I went to my Doctor's office. Been going there forty years. They got bought out by some big conglomerate and they closed it down. My doctor retired. My dog's vet did the same thing, so now we are sailing off into the sunset without medical care.
Can't decide if I have Covid or Food poisoning. It's no wonder to me gunfire breaks out occasionally.
If this were a real problem
Bruce, a MN Galoot
no one would eat blue cheese! I never do. It tastes like moldy cheese.
I don't like it either...
John in NM
But that's because the cheese tastes so strong I can't even taste the mold!
Re: Depends...
jessecloud
I read something about cheese mold a while ago, can't remember where. Apparently the mold that you see is just the tip of the iceberg. New shoots of mold extend much further into the cheese and lack color, making them very hard to see. Bottom line was that it is probably safe to cut off a small moldy bit of hard cheese (Parm, pecorino, etc) where the shoots grow more slowly. It recommended against taking a chance on soft cheese (brie, etc.).
A friend of mine says that if you are worried, just eat American cheese because "There's not really any cheese in it." LOL
Re: False Economy????
jessecloud
Barry,
Hope you bounce back quickly and get through this ok.
Health care is a total joke here. I think many local governments just don't care or maybe the big Pharma lobby outguns them.
We got tests here in NM. Went online. Made an appointment for next day. Did a smooth drive thru, got results the next morning. Happy they were negative. Smoothest transaction I have done in a long time, but the people knew what they were doing and really cared about doing it right.
Re: False Economy???? OK, So
Barry Irby
I tried a third time and went through the process over and over until I finally got through and got a confirmation of the appointment.
Later in the evening I realized I was feeling better and my temp was back to normal. By this morning my appetite had returned. I considered not going to the appointment but decided to be a good boy and went and sat in line. Got to the drive through window and they said "All our tests for today are cancelled, our tester did not show up." I grilled them about where I could get one and they had no idea.
I am guessing they have lots of people showing up in a panic without symptoms.
They have truly taken the CARE out of Healthcare.
Re: False Economy????
John in NM
Yep, toss the humus.... 
Not worth even the question of having that happen again.
Re: Depends...
John in NM
Usually it's cheddar, kinda halfway between your examples. My regular lunch during my shift week in Arizona was often cheese, salami, an apple and some bread. Couldn't interrupt my week to go get more cheese if it started to mold, so I would just slice it off.
Man, I've lived out here so long I can't even imagine Parmesan molding! I don't think it would have surprised me much back east though.
Yum! Good lunch!
Re: Depends...
johannaj
Some cheeses are made using mold spores: Blue veined cheese such as Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, and Stilton are created by the introduction of Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium roqueforti spores.
If mold starts developing on a piece of cheese, I cut it off. No problems to date - and I've been doing that for about 60 years!
Re: Depends...
Barry Irby
I grew up on a farm in the country. There were lots of little country stores with a wheel of cheddar. Often when you bought the cheese they would just slice off the mold and cut you a good slice or wedge.
My grand father grew a huge garden and we canned and froze stuff for the winter. He put potatoes in a cold cellar. Recently I was thinking back and we never had baked potatoes with a meal. Took me a while to figure out why. He would fetch potatoes for my grand mother to cook. He always took the ones that had a soft spot or slight rot, leaving the really sound ones for later. The ones he was willing to give up from his stash to eat would not have made very good baked potatoes. I used to laugh and tell people we ate rotten potatoes all winter. (We didn't eat the rotten part.)
I suspect my system has been toughened by this exposure and perhaps those of us who did not have it might be more susceptible to "food poisoning."
Re: Depends...
William Duffield
The only problem I have with mold on cheese is spotting it so I can cut or scrape it off and dispose of it before SWMBO sees it and throws away the whole cheese.