Have you ever spotted a few flecks of mould on a slice of bread and decided to cut it away and eat the rest? Don’t worry, we’re not judging you too hard. It’s a Cost Of Living Crisis after all and groceries aren’t exactly cheap.
However, according to NHS surgeon and TikTok health educator Dr Karan Raj, this isn’t a good idea and in fact, by doing it, you could be putting your health at risk.
In a video on his popular TikTok channel, the surgeon advises that, “you need to know that there is no ‘clean part’ of mouldy bread”.
Is mouldy bread ever safe to eat?
In the video, Raj says that the “fuzzy stuff you see on the surface is just the crown jewels of the mould”. I know, I’m sorry. But this is important.
He goes on to say, ”[the fuzzy stuff] is literally the reproductive organs of the ‘sporangium’, these release thousands of spores which are gonna spread everywhere”.
He adds that if you’re seeing these, you’re not seeing the ‘hidden roots’ called haifi and goes on to advise not only throwing away the entire slice but in fact, the entire loaf.
While Raj acknowledges that there are helpful moulds like antibiotics and even tasty moulds like some cheeses, the mould in bread is often harmful and adds that there is “simply no way to tell if a mould is harmless or not simply by looking at it.”
This is because some of the moulds can produce “pretty naughty mycotoxins” which can be lethal.
Finally, if you’re planning to toast the bread to kill the mould, Raj says that this won’t work “so just throw the damn mouldy thing away.”
Noted.