What can happen if you eat moldy food? I've heard everything from advice to eat moldy bread as a natural antibiotic to avoid it because it could kill you.

Unless you are eating mushrooms, you shouldn't be eating mold. It is a sign of decay, and many molds are toxic.

So I could end up with an upset stomach.

And diarrhea if not vomiting. In rare cases, you could have a toxic reaction if not land in the hospital.

That seems a little extreme.

If there is mold growing on the food, there is probably bacteria, too. And bacteria like salmonella can kill you.

Well, it certainly makes the symptoms that much worse. Why do you think the mold itself could kill you?

A fatal allergy is a fatal allergy, and there are people allergic to mold.

I've seen people cut the moldy section off some food and keep going.

If it is a hard cured meat like salami, yeah, you could cut off the moldy portion plus a margin and then eat the rest. The same goes for hard cheeses.

There are cheeses made with mold.

Brie and Gorgonzola are made with mold, yes. But extra mold is wild, not what the cheese is made with, so you need to toss it out.

What about food in the fridge?

Cooked foods like vegetables or pastas have a lot of moisture in them. If there is mold in it, you need to toss it because the mold and bacteria growth is too high.

Yogurt is made with bacteria.

But it isn't made with mold, so if the milk products like yogurt or sour cream have mold in it, throw it out.

What about moldy bread? That's supposed to be a natural alternative to antibiotics.

If you're sick, get antibiotics from the doctor, instead of risking an ER visit due to food poisoning.

Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's good for you.

Remember, the Black Death was all-natural, too.

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