Topic 1 How to handle food with mould?

Topic fed by USDA – Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Buying small amounts and using food quickly can help prevent mould growth. But when you see mouldy food:

Don’t sniff the mouldy item. This can cause respiratory trouble.
If food is covered with mould, discard it. Put it into a small paper bag or wrap it in plastic and dispose in a covered trash can that children and animals can’t get into.
Clean the refrigerator or pantry at the spot where the food was stored.
Check nearby items the mouldy food might have touched. Mould spreads quickly in fruits and vegetables.

Man holding infected and rotten pear closeup

Picture created and uploaded by Nenad Stojkovic on 31 July 2020. Author: Nenad Stojkovic , licenced by CC BY.

FOOD	HANDLING	REASON
Luncheon meats, bacon, or hot dogs	Discard	Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Mouldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mould.
Hard salami and dry-cured country hams	Use. Scrub mould off surface.	It is normal for these shelf-stable products to have surface mould.
Cooked leftover meat and poultry	Discard	Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Mouldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mould.
Cooked casseroles	Discard	Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Mouldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mould.
Cooked grain and pasta	Discard	Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Mouldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mould.
Hard cheese (not cheese where mould is part of the processing)	Use. Cut off at least 1 inch around and below the mould spot (keep the knife out of the mould itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the cheese). After trimming off the mould, re-cover the cheese in fresh wrap.	Mould generally cannot penetrate deep into the product.
Cheese made with mould (such as Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, Stilton, Brie, Camembert)	Discard soft cheeses such as Brie and Camembert if they contain moulds that are not a part of the manufacturing process. If surface mould is on hard cheeses such as Gorgonzola and Stilton, cut off mould at least 1 inch around and below the mould spot and handle like hard cheese (above).	Moulds that are not a part of the manufacturing process can be dangerous.
Soft cheese (such as cottage, cream cheese, Neufchatel, chevre, Bel Paese, etc.) Crumbled, shredded, and sliced cheeses (all types)	Discard	Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Shredded, sliced, or crumbled cheese can be contaminated by the cutting instrument. Mouldy soft cheese can also have bacteria growing along with the mould.
Yogurt and sour cream	Discard	Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Mouldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mould.
Jams and jellies	Discard	The mould could be producing a mycotoxin. Microbiologists recommend against scooping out the mould and using the remaining condiment.
Fruits and vegetables, FIRM (such as cabbage, bell peppers, carrots, etc.)	Use Cut off at least 1 inch around and below the mould spot (keep the knife out of the mould itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the produce).	Small mould spots can be cut off FIRM fruits and vegetables with low moisture content. It's difficult for mould to penetrate dense foods.
Fruits and vegetables, SOFT (such as cucumbers, peaches, tomatoes, etc.)	Discard	SOFT fruits and vegetables with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface.
Bread and baked goods	Discard	Porous foods can be contaminated below the surface.
Peanut butter, legumes and nuts	Discard	Foods processed without preservatives are at high risk for mould.

Table retrieved from: Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/molds-food-are-they-dangerous

Case study exercise

You are preparing sandwiches for the afternoon snack of your family during a walk in the park. Time is running and you try to work quickly. You take hard salami, ham, hard cheese, soft cheese and jam from the fridge, then give the cutting board a quick wipe. There is still some chicken on it from yesterday, so you give it a rinse. There, that’s better. You use the cutting board to cut bread and prepare the sandwiches in record time. Then you notice that you haven’t made sandwiches for a long time and that the bacon, cheese, ham and jam are mouldy. What to do?! You need to hurry, so you decide to take out the mould you see and prepare the sandwiches. Later, someone complains about a strange taste in the jam sandwich and a bitter and different taste in the ham sandwich. Oh no, what did I do wrong?

What are your food safety errors?	What should you have done instead?
You used the cutting board after preparing raw chicken on it.	You should have used a different and clean cutting board and utensils to prepare the sandwiches, or thoroughly washed and sanitized the cutting board and utensils before using them to make the sandwiches.
What to do when your food is mouldy?	Handling Retrieves from USDA: Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?
Hard salami	Use. Scrub mould off surface. It is normal for these shelf-stable products to have surface mold.
Ham	Discard. Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Moldy foods may also have bacteria growing along with the mold.
Soft cheese (such as cottage, cream cheese, Neufchatel, chevre, Bel Paese, etc.)	Discard. Foods with high moisture content can be contaminated below the surface. Shredded, sliced, or crumbled cheese can be contaminated by the cutting instrument. Moldy soft cheese can also have bacteria growing along with the mold.
Hard cheese (not cheese where mould is part of the processing)	Use. Cut off at least 1 inch/2.5cm around and below the mold spot (keep the knife out of the mould itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the cheese). After trimming off the mold, re-cover the cheese in fresh wrap. Mold generally cannot penetrate deep into the product.
Jam	Discard. The mold could be producing a mycotoxin. Microbiologists recommend against scooping out the mould and using the remaining condiment.

Module 5 Mycotoxins

Topic 1 How to handle food with mould?