Bread Mold – Protect your Health by being Informed

Find out all you need to know about bread mold: what is it, how does bread mold look, and if it is dangerous for the health.

The bread mold is actually a fungus that is formed on the surface of a few days’ old bread. The bread mold is scientifically called the rhizopus stolonifer, which is a sporofite which will spread over the entire surface of the bread. The spores of the mold will spread and multiply, given the bread is placed at temperatures between 15 and 30 Celsius degrees. The bread mold will attack both white bread and black bread. The mold on bread will grow faster in wet and moist environments, but will grow slower on dryer types of bread; so the dryer the bread the slower it will develop bread mold. Even if there are certain preservatives (e.g. calcium propionate being the most common) added to the bread- which have an anti fungal power, mold will still grow on it after a few days or one week of keeping the bread in the kitchen or other places.

But why does bread mold occur to begin with? Well, the bread mold is formed due to different components and microorganism that reside in the bread which come in contact with the air and environment. Moisture is the best environmental factor that will help the mold to develop.

The bread mold will have different aspects; it all depends on which type of mold it develops. As a rule, the most common type of mold is the green or white, so you will see some greenish or white spots on the surface of the bread.

The bread mold will affect the taste and the nutrient value of the bread, and it is recommended that the bread is not consumed if it has mold on it. The mold on bread may have damaging effects on your health, especially for people with a weak immune system (the elderly and kids) and those having a respiratory disease or condition. So, if you notice bread mold, make sure you throw it out right away. Also make sure your skin doesn’t get in contact with the mold. Use gloves and clean all the contact surfaces with bleach or substances that contain chloride. If you fail to disinfect the zones which came in contact with the molded bread, the spores might spread on other foods that you keep nearby, this being a highly risky factor to the health.

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