Worried about dangers of rotten food (including smell)
Today I found out I had rotten food (bread and meat) inside a closed (I think) container inside a bag. The bag had been smelly but I couldn't find the source until today. I immediately threw it away, but it had a nasty look: putrid smell, black-green-colored (hard to tell). I had felt the smell for quite a few days, maybe two weeks (though I suspect it had been hidden on the bag for longer). Today, when throwing it away, I obviously smelled it once again.
I did wash my hands thoroughly, but I'm still worried this might be dangerous. I'm not feeling any symptoms, but should I be worried about the potential consequences? I was close to the source, and smelled it, many times. Presumably either fungi or anaerobic (even aerobic?) bacteria were involved, and these can give some nasty infections, I think.
Best Answer
Far be it for me to give medical advice as I am NOT a doctor, but the likelihood that the mold you encountered was toxic is pretty small and I would not be worried. That said, if you were to start developing any kind of symptom, your best place to ask about it would be your doctor and not on the internet ;)
The presence of black mold doesn't guarantee that it is of the kind that everyone fears to find in their homes, and even if it was it doesn't mean that there are mycotoxins present and that you should be worried. Toxic mold can actually come in a variety of colours, and isn't limited to one genus/species.
I have also thrown out plenty of 'science experiments' from my fridge that required me opening containers to clean them out with very questionable looking growths of mold, and have experienced no actual illness, despite how my stomach might turn based on the smell.
As for bacterial concerns, unless you got some of what was in the bag into an open wound or mucous membrane, you have nothing to worry about there.
For reference, I studied microbiology in college and worked in biotech for a while before moving to 'greener' pastures. I've also done research specifically into black mold as we had a concern in my previous house.
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Can I get sick from smelling rotten food?
Smell does not usually contain bacteria, which carry disease and are much larger than the gaseous molecules that make up a smell. So the odor itself cannot make you sick.Can being around rotting food make you sick?
Information. Most people would not choose to eat spoiled food. However, if they did, they probably would not get sick. Spoilage bacteria can cause fruits and vegetables to get mushy or slimy, or meat to develop a bad odor, but they do not generally make you sick.Can you tell if food is contaminated by smell?
Jeanne Goldberg. Taste and smell are not reliable indicators of food safety. Some bacteria that cause food-borne illness do not have off-flavors associated with them. Clostridium botulinum, for example, produces a tasteless but deadly toxin.What causes the smell of rotting food?
News Staff. When food goes bad and starts to become pungent, it is most often due to the growth of spoilage microbes such as bacteria, yeasts and mold. Odors can come from two sources: chemicals that are released from the food as the microbes decompose it, or chemicals produced directly by the microbes themselves.What Eating Rotten Food Really Does To Your Body
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