Can you Digest Mold? Understanding the Risks of Accidentally Eating Moldy Food

We may eat a piece of moldy bread without knowing it. Food with many holes, such as bread, vegetables and fruits, is prone to mold growth. Because of this, some people find mold while eating food while being careless for a while. What should I do? The health media ‘Health’ recently introduced this.

Mold spores are all around us. “Mold spores can get into buildings through the air and stick to food surfaces,” said Georgia Jones, Ph.D., food science at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. said.

“Moldy food probably won’t do much harm,” said Dr. Rudolph Bedford, a gastroenterologist at St. John’s Health Center in Providence. “If you have a good immune system, you can digest mold just like food.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, molds (aka microscopic molds) that spread through the air, water or insects and creep on food can be dangerous, but most molds are not.

What about the pale green or white mold that appears on fruits, vegetables, bread, and dairy products? If you accidentally eat this fungus, you might feel sick to your stomach, but it’s likely because mold tastes bad, Dr. Bedford explained.

The exception is when the eaten mold produces mycotoxins. Some fungi produce acute or chronic harmful substances to humans and livestock as secondary metabolites. These are collectively referred to as mycotoxins. Although this can accumulate in the liver and kidneys and cause disease in the long term, it is difficult to eat enough to cause disease right away.

Dr. Bedford recommends waiting to see if the fungus causes symptoms beyond nausea. “The stomach is a harsh environment, so most bacteria and fungi will not survive,” he said.

If you continue to feel nauseous and vomit, you must seek medical attention. He expected that he would normally prescribe anti-emetics.