is it ok to eat spaghetti sauce that had mold on rim of jar?
I opened a new jar of spaghetti sauce and there was a dark hard substance like old mold on the rim. There was none inside the jar and the jar seemed to have been sealed properly. Is the sauce safe to consume?
Best Answer
Mold is a fungus and like other fungi it consists of a nearly invisible mycelium and a visible part producing the spores, the mushroom or in the case of mold the hairy stuff called the sporangium. As the rim part of the jar is under the lid I would consider it being inside the container and so there is a chance the mold already has spread into the sauce even if it has not grown the visible parts yet. In general molds produce mykotoxines so food with mold on it should never considered safe to eat (exceptions: blue cheese, tempeh, ...), especially because this mykotoxines can distribute and contaminate parts of the food that are not (yet) directly affected by the mold.
On the other hand 'dark hard substance' does not sound like a typical description of mold. You might want to double check if it is not just dried sauce or provide a picture of it for clearer identification.
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Quick Answer about "is it ok to eat spaghetti sauce that had mold on rim of jar?"
“If you see mold on the pasta sauce and it's just on the rim, and the sauce tastes fine, it probably won't hurt you,” she said. “If something is really bad, say you drank putrid milk, your body would force a gag reflex to throw up the potential toxins, but that wouldn't necessarily give you food poisoning.”Can you get food poisoning from spaghetti sauce?
Tomato Sauce and Upset StomachGastroenteritis that develops after eating pasta sauce is most likely caused by food poisoning. After you eat pasta sauce that's contaminated with an infectious organism, the lining of your stomach and intestines will become infected and inflamed, according to Cleveland Clinic.Does pasta sauce go moldy?
"After opening a high-acid canned food, like a tomato sauce, it can be stored safely in the refrigerator for five to seven days before being used," says Shelley Feist, executive director of partnership for Food Safety Education. Aside from mold, there are no other visible signs that tomato sauce is past its peak.What does mold on pasta sauce look like?
Mold is usually easy to spot. It often appears as a blue or green discoloration, which can grow a hairy coat if left long enough, Kirkpatrick says. If you're examining foods in jars\u2014things like pasta sauce or salsa\u2014it's best to check the underside of the lid and rim of the container for suspicious growths.Why did my canned tomato sauce mold?
Additionally, mold growth can be an indication of incorrect heat processing. Most molds, but not all, will not grow due to the low oxygen environment in canned foods. Mold growth can indicate a poor vacuum, a weak seal, contamination along the jar rim, too little headspace, or under-processing.How To Make Homemade Marinara Sauce
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