Is It Safe to Eat Strawberries If Some Have Mold?

Oct 14, 2024

Read on to find out what to do about moldy strawberries and tips for how to pick the freshest possible berries.

Stacey Ballis is the author of ten novels of culinary fiction including, Off the Menu, Out to Lunch, Recipe for Disaster, Wedding Girl and How to Change a Life as well as a digital cookbook, Big Delicious Life. Her nonfiction essays have appeared in several anthologies, and her food writings and recipes have appeared in Food & Wine Magazine, EatingWell Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Bake From Scratch Magazine, Plate Magazine, MyRecipes.com, ExtraCrispy.com, TheTakeout.com, AllRecipes.com, and a recipe of hers was adapted for use in The New York Times. She was the recipe developer and culinary consultant for The Self-Care Cookbook by Frank Ardito. Stacey lives in Chicago with her husband and is currently at work on a new full-length work of fiction.

Strawberries are one of the earliest berries to hit stores and farmers' markets in the spring, and these juicy red orbs are a joy of summer fruit eating. So there's nothing more disappointing than going to eat your berries only to discover mold. It's tempting to just wash off or cut away moldy parts and consume the rest. But is it safe?

If you find white fluffy stuff on your berries that looks a bit like cotton candy, that is mold. Mold is a fungus with spores that feed on the berries and grow thin threads that can look like fluff or cotton. This particular type of mold is common among fruits and is known as Botrytis fruit rot or gray mold, according to Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

While moldy strawberries are unlikely to harm you, they can make you sick if you are allergic to molds in general, according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. And since berries are a soft-fleshed food, unlike apples or pears, it is not safe to simply cut away the moldy part, since the spores have likely gone into the flesh of the berry. A moldy strawberry should be thrown out.

If a berry is just bruised but does not show any signs of mold, the bruised part can be trimmed away.

If you accidentally eat a moldy strawberry, you'll know because moldy strawberries will have an off-flavor that is a bit sour and acidic and may remind you of blue cheese. The off taste is nature's red flag that your red berries are bad in case you miss the visual mold.

A small amount of this mold is unlikely to make you sick. If you ate a larger amount, you might have some signs of gastric distress similar to mild food poisoning, but it should resolve on its own and is not toxic or especially dangerous, just uncomfortable.

If you open a container to discover what looks like one moldy berry but the rest seem fine, discard that berry and any berries in direct contact with it, and then wash the others well before eating.

You can make a solution of mostly water plus white vinegar to wash the berries. Vinegar kills mold, which is the same reason we recommend using a vinegar and water solution to clean your humidifier. Use one part white vinegar to four parts water (using more vinegar might pickle your berries) and soak the berries for five minutes before rinsing well, patting dry and storing.

If more than one-quarter of the berries in a container are moldy, just throw it out.

To avoid the mold problem, choose the freshest berries possible. Berries purchased at a farmers' market will likely be fresher than those at your grocery store. Check sell-by or best-by dates on consumer packaging and look for dates the furthest out. Check packages for signs of juice or moisture, which can indicate that berries on the bottom might have gotten smashed—and damaged berries are more likely to rot and mold.

You want berries that are bright red and shiny, without a dull or matte look, and with the seeds indented into the flesh. They should smell fragrant and sweet. Look for obvious signs of mold at the bottom of the container.

If purchasing your strawberries at the farmers' market, ask them to transfer your berries from their carton into a bag so that you can see if any are moldy underneath.

At the grocery store, you can transfer the berries to a produce bag to ensure that they are all fresh, and then return them in the bag to the original container to check out. If you do this and find molded berries, bring it to the attention of someone in the produce department, and ask them to help you find another package that is not moldy. Just don't open and handle several packages to create your own perfect box of berries (they probably wouldn't appreciate that!).

Strawberries should not be a source of fear, but when it comes to mold on these delicate fruits, be sure to err on the side of caution. Quickly remove and discard any berries that are moldy or are touching moldy berries, wash the rest well, and then dry them before storing them to prevent new mold. And if more than a quarter of the berries in your container are moldy, discard the whole batch.

If your berries were purchased at a grocery store and you discover the mold the same day, return them to the store, which should either give you a refund or a replacement.

If you love fresh, sweet strawberries, you'll definitely want to try this easy-to-make treat, Strawberry-Chocolate Greek Yogurt Bark. Or make a batch of these Strawberry Crumble Bars for a healthy snack on the go.