When in Doubt, Throw it Out!

Food safety is an important issue now, more than ever. Check out these tips to help you understand which foods are safe to eat and which ones need to go!

Is moldy food safe to eat? No. Mold is the green fuzzy stuff that grows on food. It can be toxic, and it can't be destroyed by cooking, so throw it out!

• In foods with high moisture content, such as soft cheese; meats; dairy foods such as yogurt and sour cream; small and soft fruits and veggies, if there's mold, as the saying goes, “When in doubt, throw it out!”
   
• With grapes or berries, melons or peaches, don't cut off the mold and eat the rest, even if it looks okay. You could be taking a chance!
   
• With larger hard fruits or veggies, such as apples, potatoes and onions, it might be okay to eat the rest if you cut out a small moldy area, but use your judgment.
   
• We'll want to keep an eye out for mold in peanut butter, syrups and jams. If you see any, toss and replace them! But the worst culprit is mold on grains, breads, cakes, cereals and pasta. Throw them out if they have even a speck of mold!
   
• Cheese is a different story. Blue-veined varieties like Roquefort, blue cheese and gorgonzola naturally form edible mold within the processing and aging processes. That differs from surface mold found on hard cheese; if that appears, cut it off completely before eating another part of the cheese!

Now that we know the good and the bad, we can confidently enjoy the fresh...“OOH IT’S SO GOOD!!”