# How long can american sliced cheese be left at room temperature **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458 "2015-03-31T22:17:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/1 "2015-03-31T22:17:18Z")
I forgot I bought some sliced packaged cheese and I left it in the car, it was out for about 1.5-2 hours. It is an unopened package. Does anyone know if that is a problem? ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/2 "2015-03-31T22:25:37Z")
If it wasn’t hot enough to cause the slices to melt into a pile of cheeselike goo, then I wouldn’t worry about it. Full disclosure: I also leave leftover pizza out on the kitchen counter all night so that I can have it at room temperature for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/3 "2015-03-31T22:27:45Z")
I wouldn’t worry about any food for an hour or two. Certainly not American Cheese in an unopened package. I would think it could sit like that for a few days and not go bad. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/4 "2015-03-31T23:01:02Z")
Judging by the ingredients you could probably leave it there all summer. You do realise that it has only a slight relationship with cheese don’t you? (I had never heard of it so looked it up) > [@](#): > > Processed cheese product or “cheese food” is made from cheese as well as unfermented dairy products, emulsifiers (stabilizers – usually sodium phosphate, tartrate or citrate), salt, food coloring and whey (milk plasma). Most varieties cannot legally be labeled “cheese” because of the high amount of additives. Real cheese has a lower moisture content and contains more milk fat. > > Whether it comes in a block or a spray can, processed cheese product is known for its bland, inferior taste, chemical preservatives, artificial colors and trans-fats. A laughable product in most other countries, for some reason in America this weak-tasting artificial cheese-like food product seems to fit the palates of many. > **[American Cheese is Milk's Deal With the Devil (Processed and Pasteurized) -...](https://www.organicauthority.com/buzz-news/american-cheese-neither-american-nor-cheese)** > > How Kraft pulled a marketing trick to sell second-rate cheese as "first-rate" American cheese. The stuff is not even real. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/5 "2015-03-31T23:27:54Z")
Real or “fake” cheese can sit out for a few days. That’s one of those foods that if it looks and smells fine, it is fine. Assuming that you aren’t sensitive, but then you probably shouldn’t be eating cheese anyway. Cheese is/was just a way to preserve milk without refrigeration, after all. It just happens to be extra yummy. I don’t think people refrigerate cheese in Europe unless they plan on keeping it a long time. P.S. I’ve taken all sorts of cheese camping with no problems, even with…less than desirable storage. Also, I have been to grocery stores where they have a bin of Kraft Singles on special with no refrigeration (for that day, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/6 "2015-04-01T00:35:25Z")
Cheese doesn’t really go bad. It may dry out or get moldy, but it doesn’t really spoil. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/7 "2015-04-01T00:43:33Z")
If this was the stuff in the individually-wrapped “slices” (they’re actually poured into those little plastic envelopes), and the entire package was unopened, I wouldn’t start worrying about it for at least a year. If it was something that started as a block of cheese and then sliced, and packaged at a factory, and still unopened, I’d give it at least a month before I even bothered to look at it. If it was actual slices that were packaged at the grocery store, I wouldn’t worry about it for several days. And in all of these cases, no matter how long it was, if there wasn’t anything obviously wrong with them, I’d still eat them. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/8 "2015-04-01T00:52:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Cheese doesn’t really go bad. It may dry out or get moldy, but it doesn’t really spoil. moldy cheese is spoiled, no matter what fanciful name you give it 😉 the smell should be the first hint of that. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/9 "2015-04-01T00:58:57Z")
With some block cheeses, I will put a third in the fridge, a third sealed at room temperature, and a third unsealed at room temperature. I may leave them all for a few weeks. The different storage gives them different textures and flavors. I’ve never worried about them going bad. ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/10 "2015-04-01T01:19:58Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > moldy cheese is spoiled, no matter what fanciful name you give it 😉 the smell should be the first hint of that. Not so! I buy cheese by the half pound or one pound and it often gets moldy before I finish it, even refrigerated. The mold consists of areas, “splotches” you might call them, up to an inch in surface area, and less than one mm thick. When that happens I just scrape the mold off with a knife and eat what’s underneath. No GI or other problemmos, none, and we are talking about in decades. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/11 "2015-04-01T01:24:39Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > If it wasn’t hot enough to cause the slices to melt into a pile of cheeselike goo, then I wouldn’t worry about it. > > Full disclosure: I also leave leftover pizza out on the kitchen counter all night so that I can have it at room temperature for breakfast. When I take a sandwich that has American cheese on it to work, I will intentionally leave the sandwich out of the work fridge so by the time I get around to eating it, the cheese tastes more gooey than it does coagulated. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/12 "2015-04-01T02:05:50Z")
> [@Nelson\_Pike](#): > > Not so! > > I buy cheese by the half pound or one pound and it often gets moldy before I finish it, even refrigerated. The mold consists of areas, “splotches” you might call them, up to an inch in surface area, and less than one mm thick. > > When that happens I just scrape the mold off with a knife and eat what’s underneath. No GI or other problemmos, none, and we are talking about in decades. I was talking about “blue” cheeses, which are utter garbage. seriously, it’s shit. it smells and tastes like cheese that someone ate and puked up to be served again. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/13 "2015-04-01T02:07:59Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > moldy cheese is spoiled, no matter what fanciful name you give it 😉 the smell should be the first hint of that. Spoiled implies it’s not suitable to eat, which is not true. In fact, many popular cheeses get their distinctive taste from mold. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/14 "2015-04-01T02:16:53Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Spoiled implies it’s not suitable to eat, which is not true. In fact, many popular cheeses get their distinctive taste from mold. yes, I know. and those of you who enjoy that taste are quite mentally ill 😉 ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/15 "2015-04-01T02:25:46Z")
It’s fine. I used to get cheese mailed to me from California to central China. It can handle an hour out of the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/16 "2015-04-01T02:48:21Z")
> [@](#): > > “cheese food” unfermented dairy products … emulsifiers … sodium phosphate, sodium tartrate or sodium citrate … salt … artificial colours … trans-fats. On the other hand were you to find something growing on such a product within 2 hours of exposure you’ve probably also discovered a viable biological weapon. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/17 "2015-04-01T02:56:00Z")
American cheese is only one molecule different from plastic. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/18 "2015-04-01T02:56:21Z")
It takes me over an hour on average to put away groceries. So, I wouldn’t even think twice about it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/19 "2015-04-01T03:18:53Z")
Yep, take away the cheese molecule, and put in a plastic molecule instead, and you’ve got plastic. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458/20 "2015-04-01T03:22:22Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > It takes me over an hour on average to put away groceries. So, I wouldn’t even think twice about it. An hour? Are you feeding an army or do you shop once a year? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-american-sliced-cheese-be-left-at-room-temperature/716458.md?page=2)