How moldy does fruit have to be before you say not mine!

[mombrontrent]

I have 0 mold tolerance. Any sign of mold and the entire container gets tossed. I also throw out foods that have gone past the "best by" date even though I know they are probably still safe to eat. I have two kids two and under so I'm not taking any chances with their health. Knock on wood, we have never had any vomiting, diarrhea, or sore tummies till this day.

In a grocery store they will take out the moldy or bad fruit and repackage them. So say if a lot of stawberries or apples in a bag are moldy they take out all the bad ones in the bags or containers and repackage all the good ones. So four bags of apples might turn into three once all the moldy or bad ones are taken out. I work in a grocery store and this is standard practice.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Any mold. At all.

 

[Marchand63]

I was told that once you separate the banana from the bunch, they will actually ripen faster. Something about air getting at the area where you broke it off the bunch. I wrap plastic wrap around the top of the bunch after I break one off. It seems to slow down the ripening!

Was told this also so do the same seems to work.

NOOO Bananas cannot become extinct in any version!! The only fruits my DH eats are bananas & watermelon. OK pineapple on pizza

 

[fla4fun]

I am allergic to mold, so any mold anywhere and the food is dumped. I try not to buy too far ahead so I consume the food before it molds.

 

[Mermaid02]

Also allergic to mold so the answer is ZERO.

I can smell mold on bread before you can see it- LOL no, seriously I can. It's a weird smell, kind of like alcohol (rubbing) I don't know how else to describe it. A couple Christmases ago I smelled mold the minute we walked into my Mom's house. Nobody else could smell it. I couldn't believe it- it was SO STRONG. I tracked it down the next day... she had been putting cloves in oranges (don't ask) and someone stopped by so she put the bowl up high on the bookcase.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Just remember, by the time you see the mold it has already been there for a while. The colorful fun fuzzy pieces are the mold spreading it's spores.

So in a container with one fuzzy strawberry, the whole container is full.

BTW the worse thing you can do is open the container because when you do, your are spreading the spores everywhere. On you, on your counter top, up your nose, etc... and they are hard to get rid of. But don't worry, everyone's kitchen is loaded with mold and fungus spores, most of which are relatively harmless.

Some molds though can be dangerous. Ergot, which grows on grains, mainly rye, can cause seizures and hallucinations as it contains a precursor to LSD. In fact, ergot poisoning is often cited in the Salem witch trials with causing the girls to have their visions.

Enjoy!!!

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Also allergic to mold so the answer is ZERO.

I can smell mold on bread before you can see it- LOL no, seriously I can. It's a weird smell, kind of like alcohol (rubbing) I don't know how else to describe it. A couple Christmases ago I smelled mold the minute we walked into my Mom's house. Nobody else could smell it. I couldn't believe it- it was SO STRONG. I tracked it down the next day... she had been putting cloves in oranges (don't ask) and someone stopped by so she put the bowl up high on the bookcase.

If you are allergic be careful smelling it as you are inhaling millions of spores doing that!!

It doesn't surprise me it would have an alcoholic smell as that's how alcohol is made. Fermented grains is what beer is albeit not from mold, but from yeast which is a type of fungus.

I'm a homebrewer and have been growing different strains of yeasts for years. My biggest enemy is mold so I've done way too much research on the topic. LOL

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I have not mellowed over the years. Actually, I think I've gotten more picky. Any amount of mold will get the fruit tossed. My allergies have gotten much worse over the years and technically I am not supposed to be eating berries and grapes because they always have some amount of mold on them, even if it's not visible. But I'm not willing to give up berries and grapes because I love them so I soak them in vinegar when I bring them home from the grocery store, dry them completely, and then store them in the refrigerator. If anything molds in the refrigerator I feel so icky about it that I end up cleaning every single thing in the refrigerator with vinegar.

 

[BLAZEY]

I "wash" all fruit in a water/ vinegar mix, and the rinse with plain water, i have found fruit last WAY LONGER if I do this before and hint of mould. I won't eat mouldy fruit, but will it another piece in the package that doesn't have mould on it.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

A few questions for those who wash berries in vinegar (genuinely curious as even though we go through fruit quickly, sometimes it does mold even quicker):

1) Does the vinegar bath affect the taste?
2) If you don't eat them immediately, doesn't the liquid make them mushy?
3) How do you dry delicate berries like raspberries and blueberries without squishing them?

 

[BLAZEY]

A few questions for those who wash berries in vinegar (genuinely curious as even though we go through fruit quickly, sometimes it does mold even quicker):

1) Does the vinegar bath affect the taste?
2) If you don't eat them immediately, doesn't the liquid make them mushy?
3) How do you dry delicate berries like raspberries and blueberries without squishing them?

1) No because you rinse the vinegar wash off with plain water after.
2) No as do air dry them a a bit an then pat dry with a paper towel
3) Place a paper towel 2 layers thick in a colander and gently roll the berries around until mostly dry.

 

[corgi_monster]

In a grocery store they will take out the moldy or bad fruit and repackage them. So say if a lot of stawberries or apples in a bag are moldy they take out all the bad ones in the bags or containers and repackage all the good ones. So four bags of apples might turn into three once all the moldy or bad ones are taken out. I work in a grocery store and this is standard practice.

This is a good example of how ignorance is bliss

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

1) No because you rinse the vinegar wash off with plain water after.
2) No as do air dry them a a bit an then pat dry with a paper towel
3) Place a paper towel 2 layers thick in a colander and gently roll the berries around until mostly dry.

Great info, thanks!