Strange mold

[Kentkhi]

I am looking for a little feedback on this mold that popped up on my Salami.

A short history...

- I did not inoculate
- I did wipe down with a vinegar/water solution on about day 10 due to some green and gray molds (too high of humidity)
- the white mold did return, but I started to notice some of it had a yellow/tan tint to it. It almost looks like it is on top of the white mold
- the photo is from day 18
- Current humidty is 80% and temp is 57 F
- do I wipe it off again and inoculate with harvested mold from some boughten salami I have?
- I really don't want to disturb it and have to regrow the mold if I don't need to.
URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/824/yellowmold.jpg/][/URL]

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[Wunderdave]

I would worry more about the emergent black spots than the yellow/tan molds.

[DanMcG]

After the initial incubation don't you want to maintain 55%=65% humidity?
80% at 18 days seems high from what little I know about dry curing.

[Kentkhi]

The black spots in the photo are peppercorns.

As for humidity, I started at 90% and had it down to 75% for week 2 but thought the salami was drying too fast and I did not want case hardening. I may be too late already? I could certainly drop it back down to 75% or lower. 55% to 60% seems really low for a 2.5" diameter salami though. I don't have my book in front of me, but I think it recommended 80%

Any thoughts on the mold?

[grisell]

Bin it. And use a culture next time. Wild mould can be dangerous. Washing off the mould won't destroy any toxins that might have been formed.

That's my advice anyway.

[wheels]

Your advice would kill the Southern European meat trade overnight!

[Kentkhi]

Your advice would kill the Southern European meat trade overnight!

Thanks for comforting me. I am not planning to bin it.

I guess I should write my will just in case.

[grisell]

Your advice would kill the Southern European meat trade overnight!

So what? Are you implying that wild mould is harmless? Besides, you miss the point. The producers do inoculate with a controlled, benign mould culture. Kentkhi didn't.

[grisell]

Thanks for comforting me. I am not planning to bin it.

Read these articles, and you might change your mind:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold_health_issues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycotoxin

[wheels]

I really can't be bothered with this.

[grisell]

Kentkhi: The reason I adviced you to throw the sausages away is not because I know that they are poisonous, but because I don't know if they are. Since you didn't inoculate, the stuff you have growing could be any of the several hundreds of mould species known, many of which produce highly dangerous toxins. There is no easy way of knowing which species you have.

Would you go out in the forest and eat every mushroom you can find without identifying it? Hardly. Would you gladly eat unidentified mould?

It's of course up to you after all.

[Kentkhi]

I haven't read the links yet, but I am curious, I don't plan to eat the mold, I plan to peel the skin and eat the salami. I can wipe the mold with a vinegar solution and inoculate with new. Will surface mold poisen the meat under the casing?

[grisell]

Interesting question. How deep can the toxins penetrate into the salami? I will make some research. BTW, I found this. Some good information here: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Molds_On_Food/

A bit down on the page:
"...Some salamis — San Francisco, Italian, and Eastern European types — have a characteristic thin, white mold coating which is safe to consume; however, they shouldn't show any other mold."

[grisell]

I haven't been able to find very much scientific information about wild mould on salami in particular, but it seems that the risk of toxins spreading throughout the product depends on its water content (more specifically the water activity). This would mean that the time at which the (wild) mould appeared plays a role. If it appeared early in the drying process, when the water content was high, the toxins may have spreaded throughout the whole product. If it appeared when the product was dry, it should be safe to just cut off the mould with one centimeter (3/8") of margin (this is what is recommended with mould infested hard cheese). Naturally, if the salami is thin, there is no such margin, and the salami should be discarded.

In a salami that has been inoculated with P nalgiovese (the usual benign mould culture) on an early stage, the mould penetrates throughout the whole salami, and it is reasonable to assume that this applies to other mould species and their toxins as well.

According to the Swedish National Food Agency's website www.slv.se , the most probable wild mould species on meat are these:

Penicillium verrucosum (associated mycotoxin: ochratoxin A)
Penicillium crustosum (associated mycotoxins: penitrem A, roquefortin C )
Penicillium roqueforti (associated mycotoxins: isofumigaclavine A & B, roquefortine C).

Ochratoxin is carcinogenic. Penitrem, roquefortin and isofumigaclavine are nerve poisons with acute effects.

However, other locations around the world can have another flora of mould. Also, the amount and type of toxin produced is dependent on the substrate, especially on its nitrogen content. This is the reason why P roqueforti can be harmless in blue cheese for instance.

The fact that salamis covered in blue/green mould can be found in suspicious stores in Southern Europe is no more picturesque than if they were selling mouldy fruit. It's just filthy and dangerous and it only means that the authorities haven't been there yet.

[grisell]

I haven't read the links yet, but I am curious, I don't plan to eat the mold, I plan to peel the skin and eat the salami. I can wipe the mold with a vinegar solution and inoculate with new. Will surface mold poisen the meat under the casing?

A new inoculation at this stage would be of little help. The harm is already done. Even if it worked, which I doubt, it would not eliminate the possible toxins that already are present. Inoculation with a benign mould should be made immediately after stuffing the sausages. Mould toxins are usually very resistant and withstand drying, heating and freezing.

The danger of mould toxins is naturally totally dependent on the amount, i.e. the dose. Many of them are treacherous, since the effects are delayed (cancer). Since there is no way of knowing the amount of toxin in the product without a chemical (and probably extremely expensive) analysis, thus precluding the risk of poisoning, and since from the picture above, it seems to be impossible to cut off one centimeter, my advice of you discarding the salami remains.

It's annoying to throw away things that one has put money, effort and expectations into, but that's life. I once threw away a whole tankard with Rumtopf (berries and fruit in rum), worth hundreds of dollars, because of mould. Even though it tasted okay, I didn't think it was worth the risk.