# I just ordered pizza...\[how long can it safely be left out?\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431 "2008-11-06T09:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431/21 "2008-11-06T17:28:32Z")
As far as I can tell, if it doesn’t have mold on it, you can eat it. I leave it out for days and days. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431/22 "2008-11-06T17:31:46Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > Just be glad your girlfriend remains your girlfriend. :eek: Hey! That pizza is HOT after you microwave it for that long with a little water! If the bacteria can survive that kind of a beating, it almost deserves to give me food poisoning 😉 Besides, isn’t food poisoning usually not caused by food that spoils but rather food that has been improperly prepared? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431/23 "2008-11-06T17:34:17Z")
I wouldn’t trust it after about 4 to 6 hours myself. But I’m weird like that. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says 2 hours at room temperature. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431/24 "2008-11-06T23:17:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey! That pizza is HOT after you microwave it for that long with a little water! If the bacteria can survive that kind of a beating, it almost deserves to give me food poisoning The reason they call it “food poisoning” instead of “food infection” is that the bacteria produce a toxin of some sort. Even if you kill off the bacteria, most of the toxins that have already accumulated will be unaffected by boiling. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431/25 "2008-11-07T04:16:42Z")
> [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](#): > > Hey! That pizza is HOT after you microwave it for that long with a little water! If the bacteria can survive that kind of a beating, it almost deserves to give me food poisoning 😉 > > Besides, isn’t food poisoning usually not caused by food that spoils but rather food that has been improperly prepared? If your pizza was topped with [moss or lichens](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080908135906.htm)you might have an issue. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431/26 "2008-11-07T04:38:49Z")
Theres these cool things Tupperware makes called containers.😉 ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431/27 "2008-11-07T04:54:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The reason they call it “food poisoning” instead of “food infection” is that the bacteria produce a toxin of some sort. Even if you kill off the bacteria, most of the toxins that have already accumulated will be unaffected by boiling. It depends. Some poisonings are toxins from bacteria. Some are infections. The things that make the news are almost always of the food infection variety. Salmonella and e. coli for instance is of the food infection variety. I cannot think of anything besides botulism that makes people sick by the toxins left in the food as opposed to the toxins made as the organisms live in the human body. I am sure there are some but I don’t recall them making the news. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ordered-pizza-how-long-can-it-safely-be-left-out/471431.md?page=1)