I’m a food safety expert and here’s the 4 foods you CAN eat when mouldy

IN the current cost-of-living crisis, grocery shopping is, frankly, exorbitant.

It can therefore be tempting to remove mold from food rather than throwing it away and wasting money.

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But how safe is that really?

What is food mold?

Food molds are microscopic fungi.

They reproduce by releasing spores into the air, and if they fall on food that starts spinning, they can grow.

Eating mold can make you very sick.

But in some cases, removing the mold from food can make it safer to eat, according to some food safety experts.

So what moldy foods are safe to eat?

1. Jam

Skimming off the mold from jam and marmalade and eating what’s underneath is fine.

“It has quite a bit of sugar,” said Sylvia Anderson, a food safety expert who is a preservative.

But if you are unsure or the jam has a thick layer of mold, it is best to spoon it straight into the residual waste bin. The same goes for jars of curry paste.

2. Solid fruits and vegetables

Firm fruits and veggies with small patches of fuzzy mold can usually be salvaged — but don’t stick your knife in the mold in case of cross-contamination, the expert told Insider.

Avoid fruits and vegetables that are slimy. This is a signal of the presence of bacteria that can cause food poisoning or stomach pain.

3. Hard cheese

Dry cheeses like cheddar resist mold well because they don’t provide the moist conditions it needs to grow.

“If you find mold colonies smaller than 5mm on hard cheese, remove at least 10mm from all sides before eating,” said mold expert Dr. Patrick Hickey to the BBC.

The situation is different with soft cheese or any cheese that can be spread or crumbled.

The higher water content in these cheeses leads to rapid growth of microbes that can lead to salmonella and listeriosis if eaten.

Unless the mold was intentionally introduced, as is the case with blue cheese.