Is It Safe To Eat Mouldy Bread?

Hi all, I’ve just eaten a slice of bread and, when I looked at the rest of the slices in the loaf, I saw that each one had a little mouldy spot right in the middle. Presumably, the one I ate had one too, I just didn’t notice it. Can eating a little bit of bread mould make me sick? Thanks.

It’s not healthy because of the Aflatoxins causing cancer, but from one slice you probably won’t keel over dead.

I don’t think so, because I’ve done this way too many times to mention. I’ll have a bag of onion rolls, fix me a sarnie, and as I’m finishing, look over at the bag and realize that every single one in the bag has fuzzy mold all over.

I think you’ll notice if it’s so widespread that it’s inedible - it won’t taste right. But I do what you describe at least once or twice a month. I have no idea why some bread we buy goes moldy in a few days, while other kinds can hang around for weeks no worse for wear.

I’ve done it plenty of times. Cut off the moldy part and go to town. Your body is re markedly resilient. I swear most modern day humans could not survive even 100 years ago.

Yeah, I’ve done that before too. I’m still here, and never got sick from it.

Health-wise, you’ll be fine. But you may want to see someone about the heebie-jeebies you catch from eating mouldy bread. Just be glad they’re not screaming.

Obviously, you’re all talking about bread that was just barely moldy and was accidentally ingested. But what would happen if someone ate bread that was completely moldy throughout? Would they get sick?

What you call the moldy part is just what you can see; the actual fungus spreads much farther. That’s why doctors and health professional always say that you cut it out in dry food (like hard cheese) very generously, but in soft food like US bread or marmalade, you need to throw it all away because it’s spoiled beyond the visible fuzz.

Eating a slice of bread that’s fully moldy would be hard to do because it tastes terrible. (That’s why I’m surprised at those who claim to do it regularly - don’t you notice the fugly taste after the first bite?)

Here’s Wikipedia about aflatoxins:

So a high enough dosis, if you can manage to get it down, could be acutely harmful.

I think the part that is moldy is not only the surface, that is just the easiest part to see. The fungus actually goes through the whole thing.

Did you look at the ingredients? Does the longer-lasting bread contain “Anti-fungus” stuff?

Of course the people who ate moldy bread and died aren’t posting . . . :smiley:

You could very well be right. I doubt most people are eating a bread that is covered in mold. I have personally cut off corners of mold etc and been fine. Perhaps I’ve gotten lucky, or that bread is in a state of continuous mold and it’s only harmful at a certain point.

But that’s only relevant if bread mould makes aflatoxins. I never heard of bread mould producing any mycotoxin or being harmful by ingestion.

You did not notice the mold on the slice you ate. Chances are you did not have any mold. I’ve picked through bread and found good slices and bad ones. You found a good one. Chances are also good that we consume lots of mold that has not reached the visible state to alert us.

Oh, yeah, we get lots of mold and worse from EVERYTHING.

But upthread, someone mentioned that by the time the visible mold is present, the entire loaf is contaminated. Not appetizing.

If you are allergic to penicillin, though, bread mold could cause a reaction.

And of course, it is the mold of rye bread that contains the precursor of LSD.
~VOW

Bread mould doesn’t make penicillin.

In general, if you can see it or smell it, it probably won’t make you sick. That’s just basic evolution: an organism that needs to reproduce in your body won’t warn you away, and one that can’t get by your gastric juices will in order to keep from being destroyed.

Penicillin was first isolated from a mold grown on bread. Reproducing that is a standard middle school science project. I did it in school.

Penicillin was first mold on a cheese sandwich. Penicillin likes cheese (which is why cheese is often Pasteurized). Pasteurized bread would be… gooey.