Changes

As mentioned above, identifying the species of mold based on what it looks like with the naked eye is not a reliable way to identify it at the species level, and thus not a reliable way to know if the mold growth is safe. It is, however, usually easy to tell the difference between general mold growth and pellicle or yeast growth. Mold tends to look "fuzzy" or "hairy" and often has green, red, black, white, or grey colors, where as yeast activity or pellicles tend to have evidence of CO2 production (bubbles), and looks "creamy", "powdery", or "chalky" and is never green, red, or black in color. Protein/carbohydrate coagulation can also be misidentified as mold, however this also never appears "hairy" or "fuzzy" like mold. We recommend taking a picture through a hand lens when posting an image of what might be mold as this will make it easier to identify. Be sure that the color of the mold/pellicle in the photo is accurate to what it looks like with the naked eye (sometimes cameras make white substances appear more pigmented, which can throw off attempts to identify the organism online). Please make an attempt to identify whether the growth is mold or not on your own before posting in the group(these types of posts clog the stream!). See the images below for examples that should help.