How contagious is moldy bread AND how to handle this roommate situation?

1. You are correct about the unseen mold and how much it has spread. If you get far enough in the loaf to where you can’t taste it yet, you could eat it with no harm, but I would toss it personally.

2. I do not think you are obligated to drop the friendship. It would have been nice if your friend had been more open with your roommate (Called, said I had a good time, but I don’t think dating will work between us, can we be friends?) If it was me that might affect my feelings for my friend.

To salvage what you can, tell the rooommate in no uncertain terms that you read the friend the riot act and you did not approve. Possibly even apologize for setting them up. Try to meet the friend away from your home. If unavoidable, give the roommate a heads up.

Yes the mold can be there before you see it. Some people are sensitive to it, like I am. Some are not.

Just remove the mold and it’ll be fine.
Try to find a way to get your roommate and friend into a friendship relationship, or you’re going to have to do the same thing you did with your moldy bread.

1. The rest of the bread is probably ok. But, if you don’t trust it, don’t eat it. It’s only a few bucks anyway.
2. You are not obligated to do anything about your friend, but you might alert him to the discomfort his presence causes your roommate. The best thing for him to do is apologize and for them both to try to put the incident behind them.

I would throw it out. It’s bound to be mold spread.

I know the feeling. I went on a date with this great girl, we made out and all, having a good time. She said she would call me later to do something. She never called, but I ran into her several times. That was just all awkward and hurtful. I think that your friend should explain himself to that girl, otherwise it will put some strain on you, and that’s unfair.

1) As others have said, the rest of the bread is probably okay. However, because I am allergic to mold I tend to toss the bread and get a new loaf.

2) Again, to reiterate what others have said, tell your roommate that you have read said friend the riot act, and then see what you can do about getting him to apologize for not calling and to give her an acceptable reason for not calling. Until he does, you would be wiser to keep the two of them separate.

If your friend is such a dick, why is he your friend?

@Darwin Well….does the friend have to tell the truth when giving an “acceptable reason” for not calling? LOL! The more time they spend together the easier it will be, hopefully.

Or, you could offer one of them some moldy bread…well, the one you want to go away.

@Darwin: I think he is generally a good guy but seems to be afflicted with the same mental illness that nearly all twenty-something guys have with respect to women. Symptoms include difficulty communicating, inconsistent and erratic behavior, and most significantly, a severe lack of consideration for other people’s feelings.

@Val123 – There is cold hard truth, and then there is acceptable for mixed company truth. I recommend the latter if he wants to help resolve this problem.

@nikpedia – As a friend you might want to help him learn how to communicate better, as well as to at least pretend to care about the feelings of others. You might also point out to him that guys who communicate and are considerate often get more sex than those who don’t.

@Darwin My point is, the truth is, “I just didn’t click with you.” But gee. You don’t want to tell someone that!

@Val123 – Sure you can. You just have to phrase it nicely. “Gee, I had a great time, but I’m just not good enough for you.” “Gee, I am so sorry! I lost my cell and so didn’t have your number, and then my ex came back so I really couldn’t call.” Or whatever.

l. loaf of bread – $2.50
visit to the emergency room – $250.00
You decide.

2. old friend – worthless
new friend – priceless

@YARNLADY I don’t even know that it would hurt you! Be nasty, but we’ve all eaten some moldy bread without realizing it.

@Val123 Mold can cause a very bad stomach ache in some people, accompanied by severe diarrhea. It is usually fairly harmless for most people.

I can imagine that it would if you ate, like a whole piece of bread covered in mold! Which you’d have to be drunk and searching for food in the dark to do! That would be gross. Wanna hear a REALLY gross food story??

@Val123 due to a medical condition, I have what is known as a ‘weak’ stomach, which actually refers to my digestive process. I am very susceptable to mold on food

ah! I see. Well, can your stomach handle a really GROSS food story that happened to my daughter??

@Val123 Sure, with the warning, I am prepared

@YARNLADY Heh heh! My daughter came over once, and she was STARVING! She just helped herself to some raisin nut brand-something cereal. She pours it into the bowl, pours milk on it, and proceeds to just pig out, really fast like you do sometimes when you’re REALLY hungry. She was almost finished with the cereal, when she noticed something moving in the milk…..OMG!!! It was full of live bugs!! The cereal was totally old and it was TOTALLY gross! After the initial horror, everyone but her laughed till we cried! She still wants to throw up at the thought to this day!

@Val123 hahahaha eeeewwwwwwww

It was a moment!!!!!!!!!! There was general screeching and screaming, then hysterical laughter!

1. Don’t eat the bread
2. Friend is not obligated to date your roommate. However, because he is going to run into her every time he comes to your place, he is under an obligation to exhibit decent manners, which, at this point, is to to apologize to your roommate for not calling her to tell her that he’s not interested in dating her because he doesn’t feel much in common. His “punishment” for the lapse in manners is to allow her to tell him that she wouldn’t be interested in dating him if he was the last guy left alive. That way, all the embarrassment on both sides will evaporate. He will have to live with the wrath of the scorned woman, and she will be able to vent her anger.

Eventually, they will date, marry, and name their first child after you.Isn’t that how it works on tv?

1) Don’t throw it out! Aren’t you a biologist? Wild mold can be much better for experiments than lab-cultivated mold. I have a friend who works for Kraft and who has spent 20 years cultivating his own refrigerator finds. It’s led to a new method for food preservation, actually. Of course, if this kind of bio ain’t your bag, then it would be useless to you. I wouldn’t eat it, whatever the case.

2) Hard place to be. You might try sitting down with the two of them in the same room and saying, let’s try to be adults for a few minutes here. You, apologize. You, accept apology.

@wildpotato: I’m a neuroscientist, so I don’t know the first damn thing about mold. In fact, I had to look it up on wikipedia to see if it was a fungus or something completely different.

(Yet, my school lets me teach intro biology. Poor kiddos.)

1. Dont eat that bread!!!!!

Too bad you’re not a chemist. Ergot is synthesized from the mold of wheat and rye. Ergot, as we all know, is what puts the D in LSD.

2. Don’t eat that bread!!!

3. @capt_bloth OK! Eat that bread!! Move that bus! Whatever!

3. BTW, I think this was a cheater question! You can’t start asking a plethora of questions in one post just cuz they only let you ask 3.5 questions here!

I’m not sure what you mean by contagious, but bread molds vary. Penicillium is the blue mold found on white bread, and it is fairly harmless to humans unless you’re allergic. It is intentionally added to a number of cheeses such as Roquefort and Brie. Ergot, on the other hand is a black mold that forms on Rye, and it can be quite dangerous, leading sometimes to mental problems and gangrene. It is believed to have caused the “madness” that led to the Salem witch trials. Both of these are fungi. If you touch something moldy, you can spread the spores to something else, for instance touching the moldy white bread and then touching a package of cream cheese will lead to blue mold growing in your cream cheese. I would suggest when you have two separate questions, you should list them separately.