It’s 3:00 a.m. and you’re craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or maybe a grilled cheese. You open the bread bag and — ugh! — the bread is blue with mold along one edge. As you’re trying to decide whether to throw the bread away, you wonder........what happens if you eat moldy bread? You remember that penicillin is made from mold, so that should make eating moldy bread okay, right? Think again. There are hundreds of thousands of molds that cause allergic reactions and respiratory illness. In some cases, molds produce mycotoxins, a poison that makes people, livestock, and other animals sick. Guess where one of the most notorious mycotoxins grows? That’s right — on grains and nut crops, two things that make up many breads. Okay, back to the 3:00 a.m. piece of bread with mold on one edge. What if you cut off the moldy part and just eat the rest. Surely that’s okay, right? Wrong. What you see on the edge of the bread may only be the tip of the mold. From the stalks, mold can shoot roots down into the bread, and these roots are where mycotoxins like to grow. So, while your high school teacher was right about penicillin being made from mold, it’s not a good idea to try to get this bacteria-fighting agent from moldy bread. The next time you're craving a PB&J or a grilled cheese, check out your bread carefully. If there's mold present on the surface, you may be better off without a midnight snack. Better yet, just prevent the mold in the first place by storing your bread in a breathable container, like a cloth bag, clean towel or paper bag and place it in a dry cupboard or bread box. You can also store slices of bread in the freezer, where it will stay fresh for up to six months. Just pop the frozen slices into the toaster and you’re ready for that 3:00 a.m. snack.
