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Fire & Water - Cleanup & Restoration

Moldy Food

2/20/2020 (Permalink)

moldy bread Once bread mold sets in, it spreads quickly and often consumes the whole loaf in a matter of days.

How does mold begin to grow on food?

What turns those leftovers in the back of your fridge from tasty next-day work lunch into a creepy science project? Mold!

Mold is a microscopic fungus - a plant - that is commonly found everywhere on earth... and that includes right here in Glenview We are surrounded by mold spores as they travel through the air looking for a home.

Home, Sweet (Bread), Home

Bread is a very inviting host for traveling mold spore. White bread is made of simple carbohydrates that turn to sugar, which is a very efficient food source for mold. Once a colony gets established, bread mold grows quickly. The best environment for mold growth is cool, damp, and dark, with poor air circulation -- in other words, your refrigerator!

Chill Out

As with other plants, mold has a limited range of circumstances in which it can survive. If temperatures are too cold, such as in the freezer, growth stops. Warm conditions, such as baking in an oven, have the same effect: mold growth stops. But the humid, dark, and still interior of a refrigerator is the perfect place for mold. The best way to prevent mold growth is to eat food while it is still fresh before fridge mold begins to grow.

Useful Mold?

Mold is not always bad. Did you know that it's actually saved lives? How, you ask? Well, everyone has heard about or used penicillin. Did you know that penicillin was first cultured from mold?

Sometimes, mold growth on food is actually needed or desired. Some soft cheeses, such as blue cheese or Roquefort, rely on mold for their distinctive flavor and appearance.

Mold is Everywhere

The next time you open a bag and find that bread mold has set in, remember that mold is everywhere in the air around us. The only way to prevent mold on food is to buy smaller amounts of food more frequently so they can be eaten before mold growth starts. Failing that, you can freeze leftovers instead of refrigerating them.

In the even that you have a more serious mold problem in your home, such as mold growth on drywall or flooring after a flood, then that situation warrants calling in a professional mold remediation service such as SERVPRO® of Glenview. We are Here to Help!® 847-832-9300

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