What happens if you eat a moldy berry

While Botrytis cinerea is the most common strawberry mold, other molds can also cause the heart-shaped fruits to rot and go fluffy. But as long as its fruity neighbors still look pristine, they should be fine to eat. For now. Eat them fast! All information posted on this blog is thoroughly researched, but is provided for reference and entertainment purposes only. For medical advice, please consult a doctor.

Please see our terms. Get a monthly dose of the why behind the weird in your kitchen. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. Just one moldy berry If one strawberry is moldy, does that mean that your entire carton of sweet, summery goodness needs to be dumped? In a word, no. December Annals of agricultural and environmental medicine: AAEM 16 2 Postharvest Disease of Selected Commodities.

Noel F. Sommer, Robert J. Fortlage, Donald C. Chapter 18 of Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops. Editor: Adel A. Frank Louws. Department Head, Horticultural Science. North Carolina State University Extension. The best practice for eating fresh produce is to wash it with water first stay tuned for a caveat!

If you are washing produce with a tougher skin on it, rub it with a brush. Water will actually cause them to grow spoiled. News U. Politics Joe Biden Congress Extremism. Special Projects Highline. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Follow Us. But should you be racing to the nearest hospital? Or can you just pick the bad bits off and keep chowing down?

Often, no. Time to un-slap that panic button. Not all molds are out to get us. We can be friends with some of them, especially the ones that make tasty foods for us.

Cheese is the obvious example. The same goes for other foods and drinks that use molds, such as vinegar and Japanese sake. Time to get serious. If you ingest a large amount of them, you might experience symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea.

Ingesting one particular mycotoxin, aflatoxin, can lead to liver problems , immune system malfunction, and even cancer. Most people who are allergic to mold find that breathing it in has worse effects than eating it, including respiratory symptoms. A small study suggested that people with mold allergies may be more likely to experience crappy effects if they accidentally take a nibble of the fuzzy stuff.

Keep an eye out for any unexpected symptoms and seek medical attention if they develop. But keep the worry to a minimum. The bacteria finds it tricky to get much of a foothold in solid, dense foods. Soft foods are another story. Mold finds it super easy to get below the surface, so the whole product could be tainted.