Hard cheese
It’s safe to cut off the layer of mould and eat the mould-free cheese beneath it.Cheese is so dense that below the surface there isn’t enough oxygen to allow the mould to thrive (‘blue cheeses’ which are injected with mould as part of their production often need holes drilled into them to let the oxygen in). However, cut off a centimetre or so below the visible mould just to be sure of getting rid of it all.
Jam with a thin layer of mould on top
Jam was invented to help preserve fruit as the high levels of sugar tend to prevent mould growing. But as we’re getting more health conscious ‘reduced sugar’ jams are becoming more popular and these will go mouldy more easily without chemical preservatives. But if you scoop off all of the mould and a few centimetres beneath it, to ensure you’ve captured any spores that are impossible to see, then the jam should be safe to eat.
Bread with small amounts of white and blue mould
The mould starts at the surface and grows down into the bread. The holes in bread mean that the mould can easily spread and so you need to cut off a good few cms beneath the mould before eating the rest. If you use a bread bin, make sure it’s free of old crumbs: if these go mouldy they can release spores which will contaminate the new bread. If you see orange, yellow or black mould spots then throw the bread away as these could be more harmful, and if there’s a lot of mould of any colour then that might give you a stomach ache!
Most fruits
Fruits are very acidic which prevents the growth of harmful bacteria but the acid won’t discourage mould. Most fruits are safe to eat once you’ve removed the mould. But if things have gone severely mouldy then handle them gently. You don’t want to release thousands of spores as you throw the fruit in the bin. However there is one fruit to be wary of - apples. A certain kind of mould common on apples can produce a toxin called patulin which can be dangerous if enough is eaten. It’s not normally a problem in the small quantities found in fruit (it is carefully monitored in apple juice where it could become more concentrated), but it’s best to avoid eating any mouldy parts on an apple.
