# Left food out for a few days, still safe to eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949 "2018-01-05T23:22:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/21 "2018-01-06T14:57:56Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Okay, this is false. There is certainly a non-trivial risk that it’s dangerous. But the odds it will send you to the hospital are way less than 50%. What??? But it’s been outside of the refrigerator!!! It’s lethal!!! [Like all of this food here, just waiting to kill so many people](https://s17.postimg.org/gz3t256v3/market.jpg). ---
**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:** [January 6, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/22 "2018-01-06T15:06:44Z")
Im usually pretty lax about this stuff, but two days is pushing it. I once got food poisoning from food that passed the smell test, but was left out a wee too long, so it’s not an experiment I care to retry. I’d probably still risk it after the better part of a day, but definitely not two. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/23 "2018-01-06T15:08:35Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > What??? But it’s been outside of the refrigerator!!! It’s lethal!!! > > [Like all of this food here, just waiting to kill so many people](https://s17.postimg.org/gz3t256v3/market.jpg). Yes, because those types of environments are completely analogous for bacteria… Leave some beef broth out for a week and treat it the same as a tomato and see how you do. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/24 "2018-01-06T17:10:12Z")
Beef broth left overnight at 75F will smell “off”. At 65F it will probably smell okay, and I’d bring it to a boil before eating it. Beef broth is one of the fastest foods to spoil, in my experience. It certainly won’t last a week. Curry might be okay after two days, depending on what’s in it and how warm the kitchen was. At least, that’s my experience. But seriously, I’d recommend cooking it. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/25 "2018-01-06T17:39:20Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Beef broth left overnight at 75F will smell “off”. At 65F it will probably smell okay, and I’d bring it to a boil before eating it. Beef broth is one of the fastest foods to spoil, in my experience. It certainly won’t last a week. Curry might be okay after two days, depending on what’s in it and how warm the kitchen was. At least, that’s my experience. But seriously, I’d recommend cooking it. Yeah, broths I toss in a day. I’ve occasionally forgotten that I left a couple of chicken breasts in the pressure cooker until the next day (I make the meat for my dog and save the broth for myself), and even after 8-12 hours, it started smelling like something I did not want to eat, reboiled or not. I don’t even want to think what it’d be like after a week. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/26 "2018-01-06T18:37:08Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Okay, this is false. There is certainly a non-trivial risk that it’s dangerous. But the odds it will send you to the hospital are way less than 50%. At least, I and my extended family often eat food that’s been sitting out longer than recommended, and none of us has ever been hospitalized for a food-borne illness. Heck, I’ve stopped my husband midway through eating leftovers because I saw mold on the meat. He was okay. > > I think it’s dangerous to exaggerate the risks, because that leads people to think, “well, I gave some to the dog, and he seems okay, so it must be safe”, or to just dismiss food safety warnings in general, because they ate similar food the last three times and were okay. > > I’m the cautious one in the family, (which makes me less cautious than most) and I would re-cook it. Obviously, you and the rest of us disagree. Anyone who follows your advice does so at their own risk. I wouldn’t take that risk. @ **Hi, Neighbor!** , I sincerely hope you heed the advice of the majority here, and throw it out, if you haven’t done so already. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/27 "2018-01-06T19:12:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, broths I toss in a day. I’ve occasionally forgotten that I left a couple of chicken breasts in the pressure cooker until the next day (I make the meat for my dog and save the broth for myself), and even after 8-12 hours, it started smelling like something I did not want to eat, reboiled or not. I don’t even want to think what it’d be like after a week. Agree completely. Except it does matter what temp the kitchen is. In the winter, it often looks and smells okay the next morning. In the summer, it can smell bad enough to be unpleasant to pour it down the drain. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/28 "2018-01-07T00:33:36Z")
OP, freezing kills many common parasites (worms), although home freezers aren’t usually cold enough to reliably do it. This is used commercially to make fish safer as sushi: > **[Parasites](https://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/safety/parasites/)** > > Introduction All living organisms, including fish, can have parasites. They are as common in fish as insects are in fruits and vegetables. There are two types of parasites that can infect people through food or water: parasitic worms and... That may be what you were thinking of. Freezing temporarily deactivates common bacteria in food (they stop reproducing) but doesn’t kill them. It doesn’t do anything to toxins that may already have formed, either. There is no safety benefit to freezing food that is already contaminated. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/29 "2018-01-07T01:31:03Z")
This is a place that prides itself on “fighting ignorance”, isn’t it? Better safe than sorry: toss it, and make some more chilli. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/30 "2018-01-07T02:06:16Z")
Ignorance \<\> food poisoning. Food safety rules are written with safety margins, and lack detail. The temperature of his kitchen counter is a key variable in this. If it’s 80F, the stuff is probably already nasty. If it’s 65F during the day, and 55F at night, it’s probably fine. The ph of the food matters, too, as does the concentration of salt and sugar and what spices are present. But sure, if you throw it out, it certainly won’t give you food poisoning. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/31 "2018-01-07T05:03:49Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > If it’s 65F during the day, and 55F at night, it’s probably fine With that length of time, I don’t think that matters that much and, besides, it’s pretty unlikely the OP keeps their kitchen that cold. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/32 "2018-01-07T05:23:00Z")
I was trying to suggest the two extremes of normal home temps. 80F is pretty darn warm. I know people who keep their homes that cool during heating season. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/33 "2018-01-07T05:37:23Z")
**Hi, Neighbor!** hasn’t been back in more than 24 hours. I hope he didn’t eat the chili. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/34 "2018-01-07T05:40:01Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I was trying to suggest the two extremes of normal home temps. 80F is pretty darn warm. I know people who keep their homes that cool during heating season. The “danger zone” is between 40°F. and 140° F. It doesn’t matter if it’s 65°or 80°. Food should not be left out between those temperatures for more than four hours. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/35 "2018-01-07T07:56:05Z")
If it was a few hours, that’s one thing, but two days is way too long. Throw it out. The meager reward from the fading probability that it’s OK is outweighed by the serious consequences if it isn’t, Just make some more. FWIW, I know someone who ate a TV dinner that had been left out for two days–in a moment of absent-mindedness, they stuck it in the drawer of a filing cabinet instead of the break room refrigerator, then ate it anyway when they found it. They ended up in the hospital.with salmonella. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/36 "2018-01-07T15:48:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The “danger zone” is between 40°F. and 140° F. It doesn’t matter if it’s 65°or 80°. Food should not be left out between those temperatures for more than four hours. I’m sorry, but in the spirit of fighting ignorance I have to reply to this. The rules are written to be easy and unambiguous. But there’s a huge difference in how fast bacteria grow at 65F or 80F, and thus a huge difference in how dangerous the food is after how many hours. Although I’ll concede that another day has passed, and I can’t imagine it’s still worth salvaging at this point. Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/37 "2018-01-07T18:24:00Z")
Besides it probably wouldn’t taste that great after sitting out for two days, at least not good enough to risk food poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/38 "2018-01-07T19:25:27Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The “danger zone” is between 40°F. and 140° F. It doesn’t matter if it’s 65°or 80°. Food should not be left out between those temperatures for more than four hours. There is margin in there. If it was 5 hours, that’s still fine (for home use, for commercial, not so much). I can’t find a good link, but the last time I took ServSafe, it indicated that you had an additional 2 hours to cool from 70-40. Personally, at home, I would be comfortable eating anything that had been at room temperatures for less than 8ish hours, as long as room temp is relatively close to 70. Though I would not serve it to others, and would absolutely not sell it to customers. 2 days though, unless you keep your kitchen in the 40’s or below, you are looking at almost a certainty of unpleasantness. Ranging anywhere from some nausea to [teen angel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Angel_(1997_TV_series)). ---
**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:** [January 7, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/39 "2018-01-07T22:52:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Im usually pretty lax about this stuff, but two days is pushing it. I once got food poisoning from food that passed the smell test, but was left out a wee too long, so it’s not an experiment I care to retry. I’d probably still risk it after the better part of a day, but definitely not two. Smell just isn’t a reliable indicator (if it were, food poisoning would be pretty ratre) It’s one of my pet peeves that on this board, in threads like this, people repeatedly give the bad and counterfactual advice that smelling it will determine whether it is safe. It will not. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949/40 "2018-01-07T22:56:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Whatever you do, do not feed it to your dog. It is really odd that people do this. I’d rather be vomitting and having diarrhea (in a toilet) than dealing with a dog that doesn’t use a toilet. Also, it’s not even a useful test. Dogs can routinely and with impunity eat things that would land a human in hospital. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-food-out-for-a-few-days-still-safe-to-eat/805949.md?page=3)