Processed without preservatives, they are prone to mold growth. These crops include grains, nuts, celery, apples and tomatoes. Government works with farmers and the food industry to ensure that these foods and products made from them are safe when they arrive at the grocery. Your responsibility begins when you take food home. What to do about mold - A Consumer Handbook.
Molds play key role in Asian cuisine.
East Asia is not so squeamish. Take sufu , sometimes called Chinese cheese, which is tofu inoculated with the prettily named Actinomucor elegans and fermented three to seven days, then aged in a mixture of brine and wine 40 to 60 days. Another product cultured with A. elegans is mentauza , the solids from soybean milk pressed into cakes and fermented 10 to 15 days. Chifan is basically a sort of sufu fermented with a different mold for a week and then aged in wine for a year. Ang-khak , also known as benikoji or Chinese red rice, is used as a food coloring for fish, cheese and wine in China and the Philippines.