Why Is Eating Mouldy Food Discouraged?
It is true that people may eat mouldy food without any harm. In many cases, children and adults who live on the streets in developing countries survive on food and fruits thrown into waste bins. Most of these foods and fruits are usually contaminated with mould and bacteria. The major reasons why eating mouldy food is dangerous is because such food is likely to be contaminated with mycotoxins (i.e., fungal poisons). Luckily, toxigenic moulds require certain growth conditions to produce the toxins and hence presence of these moulds on food does not necessarily mean the food contains mycotoxins. There is also a risk of food poisoning caused by bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Bacillus cereus, and Entero-pathogenic Escherichia coli. Mycotoxin poisoning is primarily through ingestion and to some extent through contact. The effect of poisoning by mycotoxin is called mycotoxicoses. The
