Question I was hastily making dinner this evening and added pasta sauce that I had grabbed from the fridge into a meatball dish. I noticed after finishing the dinner that mold had began to grow in the open, refrigerated jar of marinara sauce. I noticed this during cleanup and by this time my family had eaten their dinners. Several hours (5) my daughter did get out of bed to vomit. She does not have a fever and is feeling better. Should I be concerned further about this? Have learned my lesson to slow down and be more aware when cooking.
Answer Typically the mold that grows on food that has been lingering in the fridge does not cause illness. Cooking the sauce even briefly would have destroyed most of the mold if any were present in the final dish.
Your daughter's sudden onset of vomiting is unlikely to have been caused by the sauce, and is more an indicator of something that has been cooked and cooled improperly or held at the incorrect temperature for an extended period of time. Even more likely is that the illness was not caused by dinner at all and may have come from lunch, breakfast or even from the previous day if a foodborne illness is suspected.
Most foodborne illnesses run their course in 1-2 days, if your daughter's symptoms continue or worsen in that time you should see a doctor.
