Gross or Savvy? Theresa May’s mouldy food confession shocks Britain

British Prime Minister Teresa May has shocked residents across the UK with a mouldy food confession that has left people cringing.

The 62-year-old delved into her eating habits this week during a cabinet meeting on food waste where she offered up a controversial piece of advice.

Not wanting to waste seemingly good food, May claimed instead of dumping a jar of jam in the bin when it has gone off she simply scrapes away the mouldy part on top and continues to eat what’s underneath, BBC reports.

The prime minister explained to the cabinet that the rest of the jam is “perfectly edible” and that it’s not always the best idea to follow use by dates as they can sometimes be incorrect, leading to more wasted food.

Her admission has shocked many Brits who have questioned her habits labelling her decisions “disgusting” and contemplating how the jam went mouldy in the first place.

“If she actually does scrape the mould off the top of the jam, she is disgusting,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“Take you own jar next time the prime minister invites you over for afternoon tea,” another joked. While a third said: “If you jar the jam properly you don’t get mould.”

However, there have been others who claim May’s technique is actually quite savvy and prevents an abundance of food waste and money down the drain.

For those born in the post war generation in particular, wasting food was very much frowned upon. It was not uncommon to simply cut off a mouldy piece of cheese or ditch a slice of mouldy bread and keep the rest.

That is the argument that some put forward when hearing of May’s food waste preventative measure.

“What is she supposed to do? Eat it? Or throw away an otherwise good jar of jam? Having grown up with little money, I was taught to do the same. Wasting food is wrong,” someone argued.

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A second praised the prime minister adding:  “Never thought I’d say this, but: bravo Theresa May! If people were willing to scrape the mould out of jam there wouldn’t be any need for foodbanks… until of course, Brexit harms the poor, whom I care about very deeply”.

Another claimed there is absolutely nothing wrong with what May does, and eating the mould itself wouldn’t even be a bad idea. “I work for a jam manufacturer,” they said. “Simple fact is that most fruit jams are naturally acidic, and therefore the mould is likely harmless.”

It turns out they’re correct too as mould expert Dr Patrick Hickey previously told the BBC that jam that has developed mould on top is safe to eat as long as you scrape it off and ensure there is none left in the jar. This is because the high acidity levels in the fruit help keep harmful bacteria at bay.

However the same cannot be said for all foods, and it’s important throw away nuts, cheeses, meats, breads and vegetables that have developed mould.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree or disagree with Theresa May on scraping mould away?