Mold on Salami: Good Mold, Bad Mold, and What to Do
You unwrap a salami and it's dusted in white. Panic? Not necessarily. Some salami is supposed to look like that. FSIS says some salamis "have a characteristic thin, white mold coating which is safe to consume; however, they shouldn't show any other mold" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?). That second half matters just as much as the first. For how long salami keeps in general, see Does salami go bad?
Why salami grows mold at all
Salt and dryness keep a lot of spoilers away, but mold is tougher than most. FSIS says molds "tolerate salt and sugar better than most other food invaders," so they can grow "on cured, salty meats — ham, bacon, salami, and bologna" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?).
If you dry your own, humidity and airflow are the big levers. BCCDC notes "above 80% moulds may grow," and that airflow should be kept up to prevent "wild mould growth (if air flow is too low)" (BCCDC 3.13). Go too far the other way and you get a dry crust instead. That's the subject of Case hardening.
Good mold: the white bloom
The white coat on many salamis is put there on purpose. IRTA says that when mold is wanted, "inoculation is commonly carried out by dipping the product in a suspension of Penicillium spores selected to be non-toxigenic" (IRTA, Sensory Defects in Fermented Sausages).
A heads up on the word "selected." Not every strain of a mold species gets a free pass. A study of Penicillium nalgiovense, the mold normally used for this, says that although the species "is reported as safe with respect to the production of the most common mycotoxins, its safety may be strain specific," and it found that "several P. nalgiovense strains were positive in more than one bioassay" (Ludemann et al., Journal of Food Protection, 2009). So the safe white bloom is the one from a commercial starter culture, picked for the job. White by itself doesn't prove anything.
Bad mold: fuzzy, green, black or other colors
This part's serious. FSIS says that "a few molds, in the right conditions, produce 'mycotoxins,' poisonous substances that can make people sick" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?). BCCDC says the same about meat specifically: "Some meat moulds can produce mycotoxins/aflatoxins" (BCCDC 3.13).
FSIS also explains why you can't just look at the surface: "When a food shows heavy mold growth, 'root' threads have invaded it deeply," and "In some cases, toxins may have spread throughout the food" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?).
IRTA's report shows what unwanted mold looks like on sausages, with photos of a "Mold-contaminated product (Aspergillus ochraceus)" and one with Mucor mucedo, and it names "fast-growing unwanted moulds such as Mucor" (IRTA, Sensory Defects in Fermented Sausages).
We're not giving you a color chart. None of our sources gives one for salami, and we won't guess. What FSIS does say is simple: the thin white coat is the exception, and salami "shouldn't show any other mold" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?).
Mold or salt? White stuff that isn't mold
Not every white film is mold. IRTA describes packaged sausages that look damp, where moisture "leaves behind a whitish precipitate" because "Certain salts crystallised on the surface may absorb water" (IRTA, Sensory Defects in Fermented Sausages). It also notes that on sliced sausage, "oil in the sausage may migrate and crystallise, forming small white specks during chilled storage" (IRTA, Sensory Defects in Fermented Sausages).
We'd love to give you an easy home test for salt versus mold. Our sources don't offer one, so we won't make one up. If you can't tell what it is, treat it as mold.
Store-bought salami: what FSIS says
FSIS's handling table lists "Hard salami and dry-cured country hams" with the advice "Use. Scrub mold off surface," because "It is normal for these shelf-stable products to have surface mold" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?).
Read that next to the line above, though. The same FSIS page says salamis with the white coat "shouldn't show any other mold" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?). We read the scrubbing advice as covering the normal surface mold these products are known for, not fuzzy or colored growth. To be clear, that's our call on how the two lines fit together.
Don't scrub fuzzy or colored mold off store-bought salami and eat it. Throw it out.
FSIS adds two more rules for any moldy food: "If food is covered with mold, discard it," and "Don't sniff the moldy item. This can cause respiratory trouble" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?).
Homemade salami: a stricter rule
Making your own? The bar is higher, and we follow BCCDC here. BCCDC says "An approved culture should be added if mould is desired. If not, then mould will only be acceptable if it is present in a quantity that can be easily removed by rubbing (with vinegar) regularly throughout the drying process" (BCCDC 3.13). And for mold that won't come off: "If mould cannot be wiped away with vinegar, then send finished meat sausage for testing and/or discard" (BCCDC 3.13). Most of us don't have a lab on call, so at home that means one thing.
If mold on homemade salami won't wipe away with vinegar, throw it out.
Prevention beats all of this. BCCDC says "humidity control under 80% will prevent mould growth" (BCCDC 3.13). IRTA's list of ways to prevent mold includes "disinfecting drying rooms and corridors," "preventing contact with other mould-contaminated products," and "ensuring sausages do not touch one another or structural elements" (IRTA, Sensory Defects in Fermented Sausages).
Your casing plays a part too. IRTA warns that "When the casing separates from the sausage during drying," "a microclimate forms that facilitates mould development" (IRTA, Sensory Defects in Fermented Sausages). More on that in How to choose a salami casing, and the full process is in How to make salami at home.
Wipe or toss: a quick list
- Fine to scrub or wipe: the thin white coat on store-bought dry salami (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?), or on homemade salami where you added a mold culture (BCCDC 3.13).
- Toss it: fuzzy or colored mold on any salami. That's our call, based on FSIS saying salamis "shouldn't show any other mold" (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?). Food that's covered with mold (FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?). Mold on homemade salami that won't wipe away with vinegar (BCCDC 3.13).
- Can't tell? Don't taste it to find out.
When in doubt, throw it out.
We're not covering moldy sliced salami here. Our sources don't speak to it directly, so we won't guess.
Sources
- FSIS, Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous?
- BCCDC 3.13
- IRTA, Sensory Defects in Fermented Sausages
- Ludemann et al., Journal of Food Protection, 2009
Read our disclaimer. This page is general education, not professional food-safety advice.