# If I eat this yogurt and sour cream, am I going to die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731 "2012-12-11T19:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/21 "2012-12-13T02:08:29Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It might go sour. I just threw out some sour sour cream. It tasted rank! Opened, refrigerated but forgotten for weeks. no mold, though. Just sour and rank. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/22 "2012-12-13T02:21:13Z")
I would totally eat that shit, **Diosa** , and my apartment is usually about 75F. Of course, I’m one of those crazies who makes soups and stews in a large dutch oven and then leaves them on the stove to cool overnight before decanting to smaller containers and refrigerating. According to some folks, I should have died a long time ago! ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/23 "2012-12-13T02:59:17Z")
My boyfriend is a stickler for expiration dates, but I just ignore the numbers and go with the sniff and taste test. Sniff first - if the smell makes you gag, throw it out. If it smells okay then stick a spoonful in your mouth. If it doesn’t make you gag, you’re good to go. I like to live dangerously. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/24 "2012-12-13T10:17:35Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > I understand that these threads usually go thusly, “If you have to ask, the answer is probably yes.” But, what the hell, I’ll ask anyway. > > Sunday, I went to the grocery store and picked up some greek Yogurt, some regular yogurt, and some sour cream. When I got home, I promptly forgot about these things and left them out on my counter for 7 or so hours. When I discovered these items before bed, I cursed myself and then picked them up. All the containers were physically cold to the touch (not cool, actually cold). I basically don’t run my heater, so it was anywhere from 50-55 in my house. I threw everything in the 'fridge where it has since been. > > So, riddle me this: what’s the likelihood of me dying if I eat these items? Should I just toss them and consider it $3.75 lost to stupid? If they were still cold, I’d think they’d be fine. I’m with Hazel on relying more on my nose/eyes/tongue than on expiration dates. Never had food poisoning that I know of. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/25 "2012-12-13T15:29:05Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > So, if you have any food with, say mayonnaise or Hollandaise sauce (which, at room or elevated temperature are nearly ideal growth media for most bacteria) Haven’t we long since decided that commercial mayo inhibitis bacterial growth? [For example, here’s an article from 1982.](http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/12/garden/study-finds-that-mayonnaise-can-inhibit-spoilage-of-food.html) Or [here from 2008](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/health/01real.html?_r=0). > [@](#): > > One prominent study published in The Journal of Food Protection found, for example, that in the presence of commercial mayonnaise, the growth of salmonella and staphylococcus bacteria in contaminated chicken and ham salad either slowed or stopped altogether. As the amount of mayonnaise increased, the rate of growth decreased. When temperatures rose to those of a hot summer day, the growth increased, but not as much as in samples that did not contain mayonnaise. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/26 "2012-12-13T16:19:03Z")
Traditionally, isn’t yogurt supposed to be able to survive being stored in animal stomachs hanging from your saddle, while crossing the desert? I think it ought to be able to survive an evening on the kitchen counter, especially in the OP’s Arctic house. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/27 "2012-12-13T16:45:51Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > My boyfriend is a stickler for expiration dates, but I just ignore the numbers and go with the sniff and taste test. Sniff first - if the smell makes you gag, throw it out. If it smells okay then stick a spoonful in your mouth. If it doesn’t make you gag, you’re good to go. Many pathogenic bacteria produce substances with a foul odor and taste, but that isn’t universally true. However, expiration dates are based on worst case bacterial growth and/or detrimental rancidification (oxidation of lipids). It is actually the latter that is likely to cause the foul odor in fatty dairy products, and while it may be unpalatable if you are unaccustomed it doesn’t compromise a health hazard (though it does indicate that many of the vitamins are probably degraded). In short, smelling a questionable piece of food is no guarantee that it is not colonized by bacteria. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Haven’t we long since decided that commercial mayo inhibitis bacterial growth? [For example, here’s an article from 1982.](http://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/12/garden/study-finds-that-mayonnaise-can-inhibit-spoilage-of-food.html) Or [here from 2008](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/health/01real.html?_r=0). Yes, commercial mayonnaise has inhibitors and preservatives which limit both bacterial growth and rancidification. Think about that for a minute; there are chemicals added to the mayonnaise designed specifically to prevent utilization and keep fats from breaking down. Do you think that also prevents the substance in question from being digested, and may also inhibit effective digestion and utilization of other nutrient substances consumed along with it? > [@Colophon](#): > > Traditionally, isn’t yogurt supposed to be able to survive being stored in animal stomachs hanging from your saddle, while crossing the desert? I think it ought to be able to survive an evening on the kitchen counter, especially in the OP’s Arctic house. 🙂 Yes. Of course, the yoghurt product you are writing of resembles a plastic cup of Dannon yogurt like a Scottish bogland resembles a well-manicured golf course . Traditional yoghurt products are very sour, have virtually no lactose or other sugars, smell like musty cheese, and are of the consistency of soft tofu. Most people used to modern foods would find it inedible (although some would find it like a more flavorful and textured version of acidified buttermilk). Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731/28 "2012-12-13T17:51:48Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Yes, commercial mayonnaise has inhibitors and preservatives which limit both bacterial growth and rancidification. Think about that for a minute; there are chemicals added to the mayonnaise designed specifically to prevent utilization and keep fats from breaking down. Do you think that also prevents the substance in question from being digested, and may also inhibit effective digestion and utilization of other nutrient substances consumed along with it? No. Because actually, that’s not how the preservatives work. I checked the ingredient list of Hellmann’s mayo, and the only preservative it has (besides vinegar, which of course nobody’s going to have a problem with) is calcium disodium EDTA. It binds to trace metals in the mayo and keeps them from oxidising. No, it’s not stuff that’s gonna taste great and like anything else is toxic in high doses, but it’s used in medicine for chelation therapy (heavy metal poisoning treatment) for the exact metal-binding properties that it has in food. It doesn’t keep fats or anything else from being broken down by your digestive acids and enzymes. I’ve also never crapped out a wad of mayo-filled chicken salad that appears untouched, either, so it appears that everything’s getting digested pretty well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-this-yogurt-and-sour-cream-am-i-going-to-die/643731.md?page=1)