Let’s imagine a scenario, at 7 o’clock in the morning, it’s time for breakfast, you take out the last 3 pieces of bread, ready to make a simple sandwich, or soak milk directly. However, you see that some of the bread has turned green… At this point, will you continue to eat these breads?
Will you get sick if you eat these few loaves of moldy bread? To answer this question, let’s first look at what is mold? Mold is actually a variety of fungi. Have we seen other fungi? Of course, mushrooms. Yes, fungi and mushrooms are actually a family. If you look at molds under a microscope, they usually look like little mushrooms: a stem with a spore at the top. Like mushrooms, spores come in different colors. The color of mold comes from these spores.
Mushrooms are poisonous mushrooms and edible mushrooms, and at this point, so are molds. There are many types of mold that can grow on food. Mold spores come from anywhere, and there are good and bad molds. Good mold can be used to make delicious food, such as soy sauce, fermented bean curd and other foods, which are generally harmless to the human body.
However, certain molds produce toxins called mycotoxins. That’s why some molds can cause allergies and respiratory problems. In some cases, mycotoxins can make people, livestock, and other animals sick. Typical representatives are – aflatoxin. It grows on the grains and nuts from which many foods, such as bread, are processed.
Where did the mold come from?
Mold contamination can come from food production, or from your own kitchen. When you process food, it takes a certain amount of time. And it’s during this time that you’re exposing it to mold spores that eventually take root on the food. “
What happens if you eat it by mistake?
Usually the risk of infection is very small. Eating moldy food may not feel bad all at once, but lady luck won’t be with you all the time. To be safe, we’d better throw away moldy food.
1. The moldy food you eat contains staphylococcus, a poisonous mold. It may disturb your respiratory system. Your mouth, throat, and nose can be irritated, and in high enough concentrations, those who ingest it can suffer from shock, bleeding, and even organ death.
2. Molds on food are good molds that produce antibiotics. If you let someone who is allergic to antibiotics eat this piece of food that contains antibiotic-producing mold, then he will have an allergic reaction. Given the severity of an allergic reaction, it can range from itchy skin in the slightest to anaphylactic shock in severe cases.
3. With common mold growing on your food, you could be facing some long-term health risks. If you eat strains that produce mycotoxins, they can become carcinogens. Aflatoxin, like the aforementioned aflatoxin, is classified as a class I carcinogen by the cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is much more toxic than arsenic.
So can we eat other parts of the food as long as we cut off the part with mold?
Of course not, unless you’re willing to risk getting sick.
As mentioned earlier, you can see the color of the mold, but what you actually see is the color of the spores at the top of it, which means that there are a lot of this mold. Around the mold, where you can’t see the color, there are also many bacilli, and the mold has penetrated into the food through the bacilli. And these places are exactly the places where mycotoxins like. Once mold grows on food, it must be covered with mold spores. “
What should I do if I accidentally eat moldy food?
So, what should we do if we accidentally eat moldy food in our daily life? As mentioned earlier, occasionally eating moldy food may not cause obvious discomfort to the body. But if you still have concerns, you can do this:
1 eat light
If eating moldy food causes food poisoning, there will be vomiting, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal discomfort. At this time, a light diet can avoid increasing the burden on the stomach.
2 drink plenty of water
Because food poisoning can cause dehydration such as diarrhea and vomiting, we need to drink plenty of water to help replenish electrolytes at this time. In addition to this, hydration can also reduce the retention of moldy food in the body.
3 Seek medical attention promptly
If you experience severe vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea after eating moldy food, you must seek medical attention in time.
