The Dangers of Food Mold

Mold can cause allergic reactions and respiratory problems.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service, mold on food can be dangerous. This is especially true when mold produces mycotoxins, poisonous substances that can cause sickness.

Many people think that it is safe to cut mold off of food and eat the part that does not look like it has been touched by the mold, but this can be a dangerous thing to do.

Dangerous molds could be in the remainder of the food

Molds have many cells and these can sometimes be seen with the naked eye. If you cut off mold that you see, it seems like the remainder of the food is mold-free. This is not always the case because mold can have root threads that invade the food that it lives on. These very thin threads of mold root can remain in the rest of the food where the naked eye cannot see it. Molds do not only grow on the surface of the food. If a peach or tomato has a lot of mold growing on the outside surface, it is fairly safe to guess that the root threads have also invaded the rest of the fruit.

Grain and nut crops may be affected by mycotoxins

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) of the United Nations estimates that 25 percent of the world's food crops are affected by mycotoxins. The most commonly affected crops are grains and nuts, but this poisonous mold can also be on celery, grape juice, apples, and other produce. Aflatoxins are cancer-causing poisons that grow on corn and peanuts. These toxic molds can affect livestock, domestic animals, and humans. The FOA considers the problem of aflatoxins to be one of the most challenging toxicology issues of this time.

Mycotoxins are another reason to avoid peanuts

People who have a peanut allergy must avoid peanuts and all product that contain peanuts. The danger of mycotoxins also causes many health conscious individuals to eat sunflower spread that is made from sunflowers. Others eat butters made from tree nuts, such as almond butter. Tree nuts are not susceptible to mycotoxins because they do not grow in the ground like peanuts that are actually not nuts, but legumes.