John Myers
If there is a moldy specimen in a large pack of fruit or vegetables, the entire pack is suspect. Mold and mold spores may have already spread without being visible to our eyes. An all-clear for the remaining fruit from a large pack cannot be given across the board. In general, the higher the water content of food, the easier it is for mold to spread. If you have any doubts about the intactness of the remaining fruit and vegetables, you should dispose of the entire packaging for health reasons.
Be particularly careful with moldy nuts and mushrooms. Moldy pistachios, peanuts, and hazelnuts are infected by the so-called aflatoxins caused by mold. This can damage cells and cause liver cancer. Mushrooms go moldy and spoil quickly and can then lead to food poisoning. However, if you store nuts in a cool, dry place and buy and process mushrooms fresh, you don’t need to worry about that.
Perishable fruit and vegetables, such as berries, should always be used as fresh as possible. However, they freeze well or keep loosely spread out on a plate in the fridge for a few days. Fruit and vegetables that have been pressed on, damaged but not yet moldy should be processed immediately and the bruised area cut off if necessary. Then mold cannot form in the first place.
