14 thoughts on “TALONS Talk – How does salt affect the growth of mould on bread?”

1. Hi Mike! Your presentation is amazing! Your video was super informative, and you explained each point clearly, allowing time for each piece of information to sink in and make sense. I found it interesting that salt can both help and impede mould growth, depending on certain circumstances. I had no idea this was the case! It was really difficult for me to think of a wish for you, but the only thing I would say might be to watch that the music isn’t too loud in some spots and doesn’t take away from what you’re saying. Though that’s simply a minor technical detail. My question for you is: Have you ever experienced any of the effects of salt on mould growth firsthand? If not, what’s one thing that you’re going to watch for in the future to let you know whether or not salt is helping mould growth on your bread? Fantastic job! I loved this!
   -Lara

   • Thanks for the feedback Lara! To answer your question, I have not yet seen the effects of salt on mould growth firsthand. In the future, I will do some experiments by adding different amounts of salt to bread to see if there is an effect on mould growth.

2. Great Presentation Mike. I thoroughly enjoyed the Vsauce format (and opening), and I learned quite a bit from your presentation through your points on screen and images you included. I honestly don’t have a wish for your presentation. It was super well done. Question: How common is the contaminated salt?

   • Thanks Evan! I’m glad you enjoyed the video. To answer your question, contaminated salt is uncommon; Although it was found to be present in some commercial salts in one study, the amount of mould found in the salt was very low. Overall, mould is not very common in sea salt, and contaminated salt usually contains a low amount of mould.

3. Great presentation! I especially like how you edited the video, and how you used many images to explain some difficult concepts. I learned a lot of new information from your presentations. Overall the presentation was really good, there wasn’t much that you could have done better.
   Question, how can you use the contaminated salt? Is it dangerous when eaten? Is it possible to completely eliminate mold from salt?

   • Thanks David!

     To answer your questions, most contaminated salt can still be used in foods if the food is heated, in addition, most contaminated salt can still be sprinkled in small amounts on food.

     Most contaminated sea salt will not be harmful if eaten in small amounts, however, very few sea salts may contain mycotoxins, a dangerous toxin.

     By heating up sea salt, you can eliminate mould from the salt. Other types of salt don’t contain mould.

     Thanks for you questions!

4. Wow, amazing job Mike! Your editing, your use of images, your enthusiasm, and more made your presentation very engaging. I learned a lot from this. I never knew that salt could also help mold grow. I just have one small wish. At the end you were finishing up your presentation and the music got really loud which was quite distracting, but besides that great job. Is there a way to use salt so mold doesn’t grow on bread at all, or is completely removed?
   – Ben

   • Thanks for your suggestions Ben!
     To answer your question, by sprinkling salt water on bread before any mould developes, you can prevent mould from growing on the bread. If there is already mould on the bread, salt water can be used to stop the growth of the mould and eventually kill the mould by dehydrating the mould.

5. Wow, amazing presentation Mike. The images and sentences onscreen help back up and strengthen your point. When watching your presentation I was wondering how the effect of brine salt would differ from salt without water.

   • Thanks Ewan!
     That’s a good question, brine (or salt water) actually has a stronger affect on preventing mould growth compared to salt without water. If the salt water is used, the mould spores must drink the salt water to stay hydrated. Salt water has a lower concentration of water molecules than pure water, which will cause the mould to dehydrate, as the mould cannot allow enough water to flow through the spore’s membrane to stay hydrated. Thanks for asking!

6. Hello Mike!

   I really had fun watching your presentation! It was very organised and engaging. I liked how you used images and sentences to help explain your points. One question I have for you is: What made you choose your topic about how salt affects the growth of mould on bread?

   Amin Lotfi

   • Thanks Amin! That’s a good question, I chose this topic because I found the growth of mould to be an interesting topic, and I was curious how salt would be able to affect its growth. I also thought that this could be a fun experiment to do in the future.

7. Excellent presentation Mike! There was a lot of information, but it was still easy to follow along. A few spots I found that the music was a little bit loud in some parts, but it was very minor and I could still hear you well enough. The video was edited extremely well! I enjoyed your usage of music that is found in Vsauce videos. It was overall very engaging and didn’t feel like there were unneccesary pauses.

   At the beginning of the video, you mentioned that mold is used to produce food (such as cheese). If mold is generally toxic on other foods, why is it okay to eat cheese?

   • Thanks for the feedback Tyson! That’s a good question.

     To answer your question, most types of mould that grow on food are usually harmless, although they taste unpleasant and indicate that the food is rotting. However, some types of mould that grow of food can produce mycotoxins(a harmful toxin). For this reason, it is usually best to avoid mouldy food.
     The mould that grows on blue cheese is a harmless type of mould that does not produce toxins; Therfore, it is safe to eat.