Throw out
First things first: some types of food really need to be thrown out when you find mold on it. Whenever you find food that is moldy, it is important to determine whether that mold just appears on the surface or if it has contaminated the whole product. Some types of food that shouldn’t be eaten when they’re moldy include:
Cookies, bread or pastries
These types of food are soft and that means that bacteria can easily spread. Once the mold appears on your bread, it means that the whole loaf might already be compromised and it is saver to throw it all out. The same goes for cookies and pastries. No matter how delicious they might be.
Soft fruits and vegetables
For the exact same reason as why you shouldn’t eat moldy bread; bacteria can spread really fast in softer fruits. Examples of these fruits are: strawberries, grapes, kiwi and other types of berries.
Dairy
If you find mold on your yogurt or your milk doesn’t smell good anymore, it is time to throw it out. Certain types of cheese, cream, yogurt and milk should be thrown out immediately when they get moldy.
Other foods to throw out
- Leftovers. When you have left your leftovers in the fridge for too long, chances are that they have gotten moldy. And that means that it is time to throw them out. Your leftovers are the perfect place for bacteria to spread and a little bit of mold can contaminate your whole meal within a day. It would always be good to freeze your leftovers right away. That way you can keep them from getting moldy.
- Jars of peanut butter, jam or other spreads. When you open a jar of peanut butter and find that there is a little bit of mold growing in it, you should throw the jar out. This also goes for other types of spreads or sauces like jam, apple sauce or pesto.
- Nuts and legumes. If you find mold on your nuts, you have to throw the whole pack out. That might feel like a complete waste but luckily there is a way to avoid this scenario. Just freeze your nuts and legumes. That way they’ll stay fresh for up to two years.
What can you keep?
Of course, there are some foods that you don’t have to throw out completely. With some of these, it would be sufficient to just cut the moldy parts off or clean the mold off. The foods listed below are foods that you don’t have to throw out when they get moldy:
- Cheese. some hard cheeses can still be consumed after they get moldy. Just cut the moldy part off and the rest will be save to consume.
- Dried meats. The same goes for dried meats. Although in this case, it might be easier to brush off the mold instead of cutting pieces off of it.
- Hard fruits and vegetables. For fruits or vegetables like apples and carrots, it is completely save to cut away the moldy parts and us the rest of the fruit or vegetable for your meal. Other examples of hard fruit are: pear, banana, mango, pineapple or melon. Another type of fruit that you can still eat after it gets moldy, are the citrus fruits like oranges. You just have to make sure you cut liberally around the mold.
With these tips, you will waste a lot less food!
