# Should I throw out my dinner? (NEED ANSWER FAST) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204 "2013-08-14T12:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 14, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/21 "2013-08-14T17:43:56Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > Perhaps you need to change your user name then? 😃 Maybe I should, if people think it means I will eat poison. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/22 "2013-08-14T17:45:05Z")
Lamb is nasty. I’d toss it for that reason. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/23 "2013-08-14T17:59:47Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Lamb is nasty. I’d toss it for that reason. Thems fight’n words! ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/24 "2013-08-14T18:00:28Z")
One night is fine, especially if it’s not sweltering hot. But eat it all; don’t save leftovers in the fridge, at least, not for more than one additional day. I make this mistake all too often. I’m very glad it’s not an issue, and that it doesn’t make me sick. Selection bias would be an issue if it was an all-or-nothing thing (either you’re fine, or you die). In reality, you can get a nasty case of food poisoning and live to learn a lesson. (I have, and I won’t ever do what I did to get it! Sickest I ever got.) ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/25 "2013-08-14T18:00:45Z")
Unless you see bugs floating in it from the lid being off, my advice is unchanged. I’d eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/26 "2013-08-14T18:01:05Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Lamb is nasty. I’d toss it for that reason. No one should listen to anything you say ever on account of having such a stupid opinion on lamb. Lamb is delicious. And the OP should eat the stew. It’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/27 "2013-08-14T18:22:08Z")
I’d eat it. What time is dinner? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/28 "2013-08-14T18:35:13Z")
I’d have already invited myself over if you hadn’t mentioned adding mushrooms. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/29 "2013-08-14T18:36:05Z")
Lid on or off, it’s safe to eat. Eat it and love it! ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/30 "2013-08-14T18:45:38Z")
Personally, I’d make sure the damn thing was at a boil for 10-15 minutes again before I ate it. Got food poisoning from soup that had been refrigerated the entire time, it was just a few days old and the guy reheating it didn’t get it to a boil. We were both down for two full days. And that was without meat being involved (squash soup). ---
**Author:** ![OleOneEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f14d63/32.png) [@OleOneEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OleOneEye)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/31 "2013-08-14T19:27:30Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > The lid was on? It went from near-boiling to room temp without being exposed to air? Were you thinking botulism? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/32 "2013-08-14T19:34:03Z")
Just to reiterate, we are talking five hours here. Do people really never take lunch to work and eat it five hours after preparation? I do. Food doesn’t magically become toxic if it’s not in a refrigerator at all times. If it did then the human race would have died out long before Nathaniel Frigidaire first invented ice in 1920. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/33 "2013-08-14T19:41:02Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Nathaniel Frigidaire first invented ice in 1920. [citation needed] ---
**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:** [August 14, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/34 "2013-08-14T19:48:20Z")
I agree, 5 hours is not a long time - but food can become toxic without magic. Under the right conditions, bacteria can double in number every half hour. It’s possible, but not extremely likely that in 5 hours, food left uncovered and unrefrigerated could become dangerous to eat. Before the introduction of refrigeration, people generally stored food differently anyway, so that’s not a fair comparison. I’d probably have regretfully thrown the food away - 5 hours is not a very long time, but as it was uncovered, the risk increases a little. I stand by my previous post though. I can’t think of any other topic where the advice commonly given is as frequently bad as it is in these ‘is this safe to eat?’ threads. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/35 "2013-08-14T19:53:39Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > [citation needed] Bizarrely, I plucked the name Nathaniel out of thin air at random, but check this out: > [@](#): > > Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first self-contained refrigerator (invented by **Nathaniel B. Wales** and Alfred Mellowes) in 1916. > **[Frigidaire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigidaire)** > > Frigidaire Appliance Company is the American consumer and commercial home appliances brand subsidiary of multinational company Electrolux, a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. > Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first self-contained refrigerator, invented by Nathaniel B. Wales and Alfred Mellowes in 1916. In 1918, William C. Durant, a founder of General Motors, personally invested in the ... Spooky powers, long-forgotten factoid or odd coincidence? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/36 "2013-08-14T19:58:37Z")
Did you say lamb bourguignon? I wouldn’t risk it, were I you. However, I am not you, I am me, and I am willing to take the dire risk of horrible stomach discomfort in order to ensure your dish is safe. I’ll be right over. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/37 "2013-08-14T19:58:52Z")
Lamb bourgignon? **Don’t risk it!** PM me and tell me where I can pick it up and I will safely dispose of it for you for a nominal fee. I make this offer out a deep concern for your safety. > [@Kinthalis](#): > > Did you say lamb bourguignon? I wouldn’t risk it, were I you. > > However, I am not you, I am me, and I am willing to take the dire risk of horrible stomach discomfort in order to ensure your dish is safe. > > I’ll be right over. **GAH!** Ninjaed! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/38 "2013-08-14T20:24:27Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > Unless you see bugs floating in it from the lid being off, my advice is unchanged. I’d eat it. Lamb; I’d skim the bugs off the surface, reheat-n-eat. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/39 "2013-08-14T20:26:46Z")
Give it a nose test (our sense of smell has had quite a while to be refined enough to detect bad food) and then, if it smells okay and there is no visual ickiness (bugs, strange discoloration, etc), heat it up _real_ good so it’s bubbling away for a good 10 minutes to make sure. I’m assuming it _is_ actually acidic; if not then throw it or make it acidic. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204/40 "2013-08-14T20:30:56Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Give it a nose test (our sense of smell has had quite a while to be refined enough to detect bad food) and then, if it smells okay and there is no visual ickiness (bugs, strange discoloration, etc) Most of this advice is false. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-throw-out-my-dinner-need-answer-fast/666204.md?page=3)