# Is it safe to eat food that was outside all night?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-eat-food-that-was-outside-all-night/777921>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 23, 2017, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-eat-food-that-was-outside-all-night/777921 "2017-01-23T04:36:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-eat-food-that-was-outside-all-night/777921/41 "2017-01-23T23:26:27Z")

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I’m in the eating anything that isn’t moving under it’s own power school. If it was covered, go for it. Uncovered, dump it.

Personally I’m about to gnosh down on some braised beef and tortellini that’s been on the counter for 26 hours or so.

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**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-eat-food-that-was-outside-all-night/777921/42 "2017-01-26T18:58:22Z")

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> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> The soup was **in the bad zone from lunch to 5pm** …

(bolding mine) That’s the part I’d worry about, not so much that it had been out all night.

I’ve actually intentionally kept food outdoors on a few occasions, when we a) ran out of fridge room, and b) knew the weather would be cold enough for it to be safe. 40 degrees (F, not C obviously!!) would be the top range of where I’d risk doing that.

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-eat-food-that-was-outside-all-night/777921/43 "2017-01-27T16:49:13Z")

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Hell, I’ve eaten food that was left out on the kitchen counter (viz, room temperature) overnight, with no ill effects. YMMV.

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