Can You Cut Off Mold and Still Eat That Loaf of Bread?

Ahh, the perfect sandwich. Piled with cheese, veggies, meats, sauces, whatever you want. It's magic. It's happiness. It's peace. It's a simple pleasure, we know, but it's one that can provide the perfect little boost to an otherwise mundane day and give you something tasty to look forward to throughout your morning.

However, with that same upper can come a major, major downer when you pull out that fresh loaf of bread to start building your sandwich creation, only to find an icky, mossy, green splotch of mold right in the center of your slice. For a second, you may think to yourself, "I'll just cut around that little chunk." But hang on. Because the experts we spoke to say that can be a major no-no. 

"Bread mold is tricky. If you can see some mold spots, many more mold spores are present and not visible to the naked eye," Lorene Sauro, a nutritionist and food professional who is certified in health and food safety, shared with Food & Wine. "Cutting mold off slices and cooking with them is not advisable. Cooking kills mold, but the mycotoxins it can produce are still present. If someone is sensitive to mycotoxins, they could have an adverse reaction." 

As Sauro noted, "Mold in small amounts may not harm some people, but it can make others sick," making it a risk that feels a little too high to take. "If you see any signs of mold, throw out the bread," Sauro added. 

Shelly Balls, a registered dietitian nutritionist who is also ServSafe Manager Certified, agreed adding, "No matter how little the mold spot is on the bread, it is not safe to just cut around it and eat the rest because the root of the mold has already deeply penetrated into it. Molds produce toxins that not only cause food poisoning but can also impact your health by just breathing it." 

Unlike cheese, Balls added, bread should be discarded at the first sign of mold. "Even if you only see a small amount of mold on your bread, that doesn't mean you can just cut it off and be safe, this is because it’s highly likely there is more mold present that you can't see with your naked eye." Additionally, Balls noted that there are simply too many different types of molds that can grow on bread, making it impossible to identify the type present and just how dangerous it can be to your health.

So, just throw it out. 

And if this wasn't a good enough response to convince you, Sauro gave us all one more reason: "Bread that is old enough to go moldy may be less tasty." So maybe, if you spot a little mold, treat yourself to takeout instead, and try again tomorrow.