# food left out overnight **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793 "2003-04-10T14:47:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/1 "2003-04-10T14:47:15Z")
I have left out pizza (ordered about 6 p.m.) all night and eaten it safely the next day. I thought nothign was to be left out (foodwise) or it would be bad. Am I wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Jammers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/2 "2003-04-10T14:52:38Z")
It depends on the foodstuff, and the environment. The lower the ambient temperature, the better. If the food is covered, better. From memory, rice is one of the worst things to leave out overnight, but chilli, curry etc are ok, just make sure it is propoerly reheated. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/3 "2003-04-10T14:52:57Z")
It depends what is on the pizza, I suppose, and the temperature in your house. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/4 "2003-04-10T14:54:06Z")
It won’t _definitely_ be bad, it just isn’t absolutely safe. Commercial food services are required to keep food either above 180F or below 45F (or something like that) to retard bacteria growth. There are tons of variables. Some foods are much more prone to bacterial spoilage than others. Meats and other animal products tend to be much higher risk than vegetables. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/5 "2003-04-10T14:55:46Z")
Mankind survived for thousands of years with out refrigerators, or access to ice. Sometimes he got food poisoning. Mostly not. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/6 "2003-04-10T14:58:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jammers \* > \*\*. . .but chilli, curry etc are ok, just make sure it is propoerly reheated. \*\* If food develops bacteria that causes illness, the illness can be caused by toxins produced by the bacteria. Suppose chili, for example, is left out not hot enough to kill bacteria but warm enough to encourage their growth. The next day you boil the heck out of it. You may kill the bacteria but there could still be enough toxins left to make you sick. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/7 "2003-04-10T15:00:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jammers \* > \*\*but chilli, curry etc are ok, just make sure it is propoerly reheated. \*\* This isn’t necessarily true; in a warm environment, 12 hours is plenty of time for bacteria to get really busy on it; reheating will destroy the living bacteria, but not necessarily the toxins they have left behind. In theory, cooking something with the lid on the pan, then leaving to cool should exclude any sources of bacteria, but in practice this isn’t true for two reasons: - As the food cools, air (possibly containing bacterial spores) will be drawn into the pan. -Nobody can resist taking a peek. in the catering industry (at least here in the UK), I believe the regulations state that high risk foods (meats mostly) should be left unrefrigerated for a maximum of 90 minutes while cooling - this probably errs greatly on the side of caution though. Somebody will be along shortly though to refute all of this with a story about how they ate a raw otter that stank and had maggots in it, and they were just _fine_. ---
**Author:** ![3.885AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/58956e/32.png) [@3.885AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3.885AM)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/8 "2003-04-10T15:01:29Z")
Day old pizza, yummm, my favorite! Seriously, probably not the best thing to be eating, but I have done it for years without ill effect. ---
**Author:** ![Jammers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/9 "2003-04-10T15:05:01Z")
Crikey. I didn’t realise that. As a slight hijack, why does food have to be cooled before being refrigerated? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/10 "2003-04-10T15:08:53Z")
I once ate a raw otter that stank and had maggots in it, and I was just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/11 "2003-04-10T15:09:59Z")
Mainly because fridges couldn’t cope properly with quickly shunting the large amount of heat from, say a large pan of hot soup; there would be a temporary (but not necessarily short) rise in temperature of the entire inside of the fridge and this could cause other items to spoil or (worst case) the fridge to pack up. I don’t think it is all that true anymore, due to better refrigeration design. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/12 "2003-04-10T15:17:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jammers \* > \*\*From memory, rice is one of the worst things to leave out overnight, but chilli, curry etc are ok, just make sure it is propoerly reheated. \*\* Rice? Why rice? I leave rice out (in the rice cooker) all the time. It is no good cold and doesn’t re-heat well. I would rather eat it room temp. the next day. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/13 "2003-04-10T15:23:32Z")
There is a common bacterium (I foget the name) that can grow on rice that will make you very seriously ill, sometimes within seconds of eating it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/14 "2003-04-10T15:26:13Z")
[_Bacillus Cereus_](http://www.penpages.psu.edu/penpages_reference/12101/121011304.html) ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/15 "2003-04-10T15:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by x-ray vision \* > \*\*I once ate a raw otter that stank and had maggots in it, and I was just fine. \*\* except for your newly acquired ability to see through things. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/16 "2003-04-10T15:46:22Z")
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it though; I ate a raw otter that didn’t stink much at all and only had a few maggots in it and I died. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/17 "2003-04-10T15:48:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Mainly because fridges couldn’t cope properly with quickly shunting the large amount of heat from, say a large pan of hot soup; there would be a temporary (but not necessarily short) rise in temperature of the entire inside of the fridge and this could cause other items to spoil or (worst case) the fridge to pack up. > > I don’t think it is all that true anymore, due to better refrigeration design. \*\* You can safely put things like soup and chili in the fridge faster if you divide it first. I put leftover chili in those portion-sized gladware containers and then put them in the fridge or freezer. It’s better than leaving food out room temp. From [This site](http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC3544.htm): “Thick foods” such as stews and layers of meat slices should be put in shallow dishes and limited to a depth of 2 inches so they cool faster. Divide large amounts of hot leftovers directly into small, shallow containers for quick cooling and place directly in the refrigerator or freezer. Discard food that has been left standing at room temperature for more than two hours. " This site has good information about how to safely store lots of foods. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/18 "2003-04-10T15:55:13Z")
I left out some food overnight, then refrigerated it–and ate it a week later. I had no problems at all, but YMMV. But I’m always pushing the envelope on foods, and most of the time I don’t get infected. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/19 "2003-04-10T17:00:57Z")
Damn you! Now I’m hungry for otter chili, and lunch isn’t for another hour. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793/20 "2003-04-10T19:57:29Z")
I push the envelope, too. But now that I know about rice, I’ll be more careful. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-left-out-overnight/167793.md?page=2)