The Prime Minister has revealed her jam eating habits to the world and it’s sparked a bit of a debate.
Theresa May admitted during a cabinet discussion on food waste that she does not dispose of jam that has gone mouldy, but simply scrapes the mould off the top and eats what’s underneath.
Her comments prompted much disgust from people on Twitter who weren’t sure about the idea.
One person simply branded the whole thing “gross af”.
While another asked: “Why doesn’t Theresa May eat the jam before it goes mouldy? Does she have too much jam?”
However some people were supportive of her words.
A different user tweeted: “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.”
Someone who works for a jam manufacturer also got involved in the argument, claiming that as most jams are naturally acidic, the mould is “likely harmless”.
But is it actually safe to eat jam this way?
The Food Standards Agency advises not eating food that is rotten or contains mould.
However, in a 2014 episode of the BBC2 show, Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, the Prime Minister’s scraping method was shown to be a completely fine thing to do.
On the episode, presenter Michael Mosley and mould expert Patrick Hickey, left various items of food to go mouldy and investigated whether they were ok to eat afterwards.
These items included fruit, bread, hard cheese – and of course jam.
He found that jam with a thin layer of mould on top can be salvaged and is ok to eat as long as you make sure to remove all traces of mould.
They also recommended scooping out a few centimetres below where the mould had been growing, to get rid of any hard-to-see spores that could be remaining.
While the jam was ruled as acceptable to eat, experts warned that soft cheese, nuts and meat should be avoided if they have started growing mould.