Is It Safe To Eat Berries if Some Are Moldy? Here’s What the Experts Say (2023)

FAQs

Is It Safe To Eat Berries if Some Are Moldy? Here’s What the Experts Say? ›

Food safety experts say that while you shouldn't eat berries that are obviously moldy, those without visible signs of the spores are fine to eat.

"If more than about a quarter of the berries are moldy, you're probably best off getting rid of all of those berries. But, if the rest are looking healthy, they're not bruised, they're not soft and there's no visible mold on them, they're probably OK to eat after you've washed them well," she says.

Quickly remove and discard any berries that are moldy or are touching moldy berries, wash the rest well, and then dry them before storing to prevent new mold. And if more than a quarter of the berries in your container are moldy, discard the whole batch.

Good news: You can easily kill off mold and bacteria with a quick vinegar and water bath, then dry off the berries before they go in the fridge.

Most likely, you'll be okay.” However, in certain cases, the mold found on spoiled food could be dangerous, so if you suddenly develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea, an elevated temperature or diarrhea, you should immediately seek medical help.

Molds have a harder time growing roots in dense foods, so if you cut off at least 1 inch around the spot of mold, you should be fine to eat your firm fruits and vegetables. Just make sure to keep the knife out of the mold to avoid cross-contaminating your produce.

They should be safe to eat, per the USDA. Just give them a good rinse first and try to eat them within a day or two, “as any remaining mold spores can quickly spread to other berries and create more visible mold,” says Shumaker.

2) Berries

If a small amount of berries in a container show mold, do not discard the entire container. Berries crush and bruise easily and sometimes can appear to be spoiled when they have simply been crushed. Quickly pick through containers of berries, only throwing away those that are obviously bad.

Don't worry: The coating is a safe, natural part of the fruit. Known as the "bloom," the waxy, silvery-white substance on the surface of grapes, blueberries, and certain plums acts as a barrier against insects and bacteria and helps to seal in the fruit's moisture.

As our own Kat Kinsman explains, "To prevent mold growth and extend berries' freshness, rinse them in a mixture of one cup white vinegar and four cups of water, then drain and dry them thoroughly." Store them as you would unwashed berries, on top of a dry paper towel in an open container in the fridge.

What happens if one berry is moldy? ›

When you find a few moldy pieces of fruit inside a container, throw out the moldy fruit and any pieces of fruit that are directly touching them. Take a close look at the remaining pieces of fruit: if there are no signs of mold and the fruit is not overly mushy, thoroughly wash the fruit prior to consuming.

"It's not safe to eat soft fruits—like berries—that have mold on the surface because the mold could have penetrated into the flesh of the fruit where it's not visible to the naked eye," Revell adds, echoing advice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Why do berries go bad so fast? It comes down to moisture… and mold. Berries tend to be quite porous, water-rich and delicately skinned, meaning they soak up excess moisture in their environment very easily. They also pretty much all carry mold spores, which grow rapidly when moisture is plentiful.

There's no need to worry if you notice a berry is moldy after you've started eating it — you're unlikely to get sick if you eat a small amount of mold, Rajapakse explains.

Q: How long after eating moldy bread will I get sick? If you end up getting sick from eating bad bread, it will happen within a few hours. Moldy bread can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and other symptoms.

Yes, molds can thrive in high-acid foods like jams, jellies, pickles, fruit, and tomatoes. But these microscopic fungi are easily destroyed by heat processing high-acid foods at a temperature of 212 °F in a boiling water canner for the recommended length of time.

There are many different types of fungi that can colonize berries, says Wu, including Botrytis, Phytophthora, and Fusarium. These are “usually white or gray in color, and sometimes you can actually see the filaments of the mold (very thin strands, like hair)” sprouting from the berries' surface.

So it should be safe to cut around the affected area and eat the rest of block. But she advises cutting with a margin of a couple of centimetres, just to be on the safe side. But many other foods, including mouldy bread, are better off thrown away as the mould is more likely to be growing beyond the areas you can see.

The USDA explains a little mold on hard fruits and vegetables, like apples, cabbage and carrots, is OK. You can cut off at least one inch around and below the mold, wash and then eat the fruit or vegetable.

The fuzz you are seeing is Botrytis cinerea, a common fungus that can infect hundreds of species of plants, and raspberries are a particularly preferable host. Botrytis thrives in humid conditions, and can spread extremely quickly.

How do you wash berries? ›

For blackberries, raspberries, boysenberries, and blueberries, do not rinse under running water, as the pressure can crush them. Instead, place the berries in a colander and dip them in a bowl of cold water. Gently swish the colander in the water, then allow the berries to drain.

Blueberry – Botrytis Blight/Gray Mold (Botrytis cinerea and B. pseudocinerea) ID/Disease Cycle: Rotted flowers and berries are typically covered with a gray fuzz of mycelium and spores, which gives the disease its name.

Powdery mildew, a warm-weather high-humidity disease, is present in some blueberry plantings. Lowbush, highbush, and rabbiteye blueberries are all affected. Symptoms on blueberries are different from those on most other plants, and could be mistaken for a virus or bacterial disease.

Some common traits of bad blueberries are a mushy, soft texture and some discoloration and bruising and then mold will start to appear beginning where the stem was attached. Remember, if they are moldy, throw them out!

Don't crowd your berries when storing

Then cover the container with a loose-fitting lid to let excess moisture (a breeding ground for bacteria) escape. You don't want to use airtight containers here.

Washing berries in water is a good way to get off obvious dirt and grime and an efficient way to wash strawberries. For an even deeper clean, dip them in a 3:1 mixture of water and distilled white vinegar. This vinegar rinse helps to prevent mold from spoiling strawberries and can extend their shelf life.

Rinse the berries in cold water.

When you're ready to serve your berries, place them in a colander and give them a quick rinse with cool, running water. Wash strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries in either cold or cool water. Doing so removes pesticides, dirt, and mold.

It's simple really: just give them a quick bath in a vinegar and water solution the moment you get them home, dry them, and place them in a clean container lined with paper towels. The vinegar helps to kill any mold that could cause them to spoil, and this method can make them last as long as 10 days in our house!

When strawberries develop brown spots, they are starting to go bad. Sunken and dark areas on your strawberries are a sign they are getting old. You can still eat them at this stage as long as they don't have any mold. A strawberry should be discarded and not eaten if it is soft and mushy with brown spots.

Don't rinse unless you have to!

The absolute best way to keep berries fresh is to avoid rinsing them until you're ready to eat them.

Why do berries last longer in mason jars? ›

As mentioned above, glass jars keep out air, which lengthens the life of the produce. Glass jars are a safer, healthier alternative to plastic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says washing your produce under running water can prevent you from becoming infected with food-borne illnesses like norovirus, which is the country's leading cause of disease outbreaks from contaminated food.

Even if berries look perfectly healthy at harvest, they can change to a moldy mass within 24 to 48 hours.

Again, if you eat mold, the odds are high that nothing will happen or you may experience a slight gastrointestinal upset. “You would need a very under-developed immune system and to eat a ton of mold in order to get sick,” Detwiler says. “Even that is not likely to kill you.”

Fresh strawberries can go moldy very fast. If strawberries are not refrigerated, they can last one to two days before growing mold. If stored in the refrigerator, they can last between five to seven days before going bad.

Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, exposure to molds can lead to symptoms such as stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin. Some people, such as those with allergies to molds or with asthma, may have more intense reactions.

Each person's body is affected by mold toxicity in different ways. Some experience constant migraines and headaches, shortness of breath, brain fog, fatigue or even depression. Since symptoms differ from person to person, they may not be quickly associated with mold exposure.

That white powdery finish found on blueberries is actually a sign of freshness. The white stuff (called the bloom) is the blueberry's natural protection against the sun and if you can see it, it means the berries have been picked in nice, dry conditions.

Berries often spoil quickly and are fairly delicate, although usually are completely fine for consumption. If a small amount of berries in a container show mold, do not discard the entire container.

Food safety experts say that while you shouldn't eat berries that are obviously moldy, those without visible signs of the spores are fine to eat.

Is it safe to pick out moldy blueberries? ›

Experts agree that eating fistfuls of visibly moldy berries is a bad idea, particularly because there's no way to tell from your home kitchen whether the fungi in question is friend (like the tangy stuff in blue cheese) or foe (like the toxic stuff that colonizes corn and can have serious long-term health effects).

Mix 1 part vinegar into the cold water to preserve the blueberries. To ensure the vinegar solution is strong enough to eliminate mold and bacteria, keep it at a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. You can use a bottle of basic white vinegar purchased from a grocer or general store.

Crown gall in blueberries is caused by the soilborne bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Agrobacterium infects through wounds on the stems and roots, causing knobby galls to form. The pathogen is spread by splashing rain, irrigation water, infested tools and equipment, and on contaminated cuttings or grafting stock.

3) Raspberries and blackberries are aggregate fruits, meaning that the big piece of fruit you enjoy is actually dozens of tiny fruits growing together. These tiny fruits, or bumps, are called drupletes.

A. Yes, you can consume raspberries every day. They can help boost your energy levels and immune system and improve feminine health. Having raspberries every day can also reduce the risk of getting cancer.

It is very likely these worms are spotted wing Drosophila larvae, Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae). The spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) is a small vinegar fly with the potential to damage many fruit crops.