A Moldy Oldie: Fungal Food Fun

Alliteration, when I have no ideas that is my backup. I'm a world class alliterator, like an alligator with a motor. Expectations blown and I am not a clown nor down to crown an unwound town. Yes, windbag indeed. I warned you. Unlike my introduction, it makes sense to find mold on old food if you leave it out long enough. A chance encounter with a coffee mug that hadn't been opened this millennium inspired this post, in fact I think it was moving. If it is a new species I want it named after me, Aspergillus Johnneia or Blastomyces Kruegectis. 

OK enough blabber. Fungi are pretty ubiquitous, from the small pin point of black mold to the largest 3.5 square mile fungi in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. There are an estimated 1.5 million species of fungi, though we only have found 150,000 so far, those are rookie numbers says Matthew McConaughey. It seems like frequently there is some notice from the FDA about a food borne outbreak. The usual suspects are E. coli, campylobacter, salmonella, listeria, etc.... At a later date I will look at antibiotic resistance in these buggers. But what about fungi? I would wager 50 cents that everyone who reads this (all 4 of you) have seen mold on your bread or cheese in the fridge. 

It is estimated that between 5-10% of food in the world is lost due to fungi. Fun fact, fermented products can grow fewer fungi species due to competing microbiota. Looking at the literature, at least a small part, most fungal food illnesses cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, but some can cause invasive disease. This does not seem to be a huge risk for immunocompetent people, but young kids, the elderly, patients with HIV or undergoing chemo or radiation are just a few of the populations where the food fungi can become fungemia in short order. 

Like bacteria infections, food borne fungi are becoming more resistant to our existing antifungals, which are much less in number than antibiotics. The CDC has a cool page on its infection surveillance system and how it is trying to bring susceptibility testing to more locations. These surveillance programs are really critical to nipping outbreaks in the bud. My favorite example, from my previous life, is the Rajneeshee poisoning of a salad bar in Oregon. Surveillance played a large part in stoping that outbreak, after 750+ people were poisoned with Salmonella. 

All that to say, it aint just bacteria and parasites that infect food! Plus fungi are cool. 

References

Antimicrobial-Resistant Fungi from the CDC at https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/antifungal-resistance.html

Diversity and Control of Spoilage Fungi in Dairy Products: An Update in Microorganisms from September 2017 by Garnier et al.

Image of fuzzy bread (mold) from https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/outreach/why-guy/why-is-mold-on-some-foods-okay/85-83ff62de-4d67-4096-bc0b-db27aa7352d6

Invasive Fungal Infections Acquired from Contaminated Food or Nutritional Supplements: A Review of the Literature in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 2016 by Benedict, Chiller, and Mody. 

Rajneeshee Bioterror Attack by Leena Oh in 2017 on the Homeland Security Digital Library.

Strange but True: The Largest Organism on Earth Is a Fungus by Anne Casselman in the Scientific American in 2007. 

The numbers of fungi from Fungal Diversity May 2022 by Kevin Hyde.

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