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Molds are fungi just like mushrooms and yeast.
Also like mushrooms, they reproduce by releasing spores into the air that land on everything, including your food and food storage containers. When those spores begin to grow, they create thin threads that spread through out their growing medium. These threads are the roots of the mold fungus, called mycelium. The stalk of a mold fungus is the portion above or on the surface of the food. It produces the spores and gives the mold its color.