# Was this food out of the fridge too long?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 22, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317 "2009-03-22T04:16:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/1 "2009-03-22T04:16:28Z")
I got a package of tofu dogs with my groceries and somehow missed putting it in the fridge with the other stuff. By the time I realized it, it had been sitting out a good 8 hours.
I know this is too long for meat, but I don’t know about tofu. Should I keep them or toss them?
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### Author:  [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/2 "2009-03-22T04:35:19Z")
Since it’s supposed to be refrigerated, I would go with the two hour rule. I’m a little OCD about that, but I’d rather not take a chance.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/3 "2009-03-22T04:39:22Z")
Nah. I’d eat them. Let us know how it turned out: if you live.
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### Author:  [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/4 "2009-03-22T06:50:39Z")
Hell, you’re in Canada. They’re probably still frozen.
All kidding aside, I think you’re okay as long as you’ll be cooking them.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/5 "2009-03-22T12:17:46Z")
I think I would cook them well and eat them. I don’t believe that eight hours is too long for meat either, but again I would cook it well. After all, there have been refrigerators for less than 100 years. Meat is often hung for several days, to develop the taste and to tenderize it.
After the great ice storm of '98 when we were without power for 7 1/2 days, we took all the meat from the freezer and made a giant stew that we (froze and) ate from for weeks. We cooked it long and well and suffered not at all. Of course, the house was around 1 C by the time we got our power back.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/6 "2009-03-22T16:46:18Z")
If tofu dogs are packaged in the same sort of hermetically-sealed plastic shrink-wrap that regular hot dogs are, you could probably leave them out for weeks or months and they’d still be fine. Most things in that sort of packaging are “refrigerate after opening”, and it doesn’t matter what happens before opening.
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### Author:  [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/7 "2009-03-22T17:15:15Z")
Yeah, they’re tightly packed in plastic wrap. I guess I’ll keep 'em, I cook them pretty well anyway.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/8 "2009-03-22T19:35:05Z")
tofu dogs?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/9 "2009-03-22T20:27:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> tofu dogs?
For vegetarians. They’re sort of like hot dogs, except that they more closely approximate something that would actually be considered meat.
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### Author:  [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/10 "2009-03-23T00:28:09Z")
So, did you eat them and live?
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### Author:  [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/11 "2009-03-23T01:19:15Z")
Yes! I have not been cast of this mortal coil, yet.
Although to correct Chronos, I’m not a vegetarian. I just don’t eat red meat or things made from it.
The texture and taste of the dogs is actually almost exactly like the real thing, but much better for you. You should try one if you never have. Not all tofu products succeed in mimicry though. I tried a meatless marinated chicken breast awhile ago and it was like eating a vinegary, stringy gym sock.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/12 "2009-03-23T02:23:16Z")
(psst… Re-read what I wrote. I was saying that “genuine” hot dogs aren’t really meat)
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### Author:  [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/13 "2009-03-23T03:07:46Z")
> [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](#):
>
> Yes! I have not been cast of this mortal coil, yet.
>
> Although to correct Chronos, I’m not a vegetarian. I just don’t eat red meat or things made from it.
> The texture and taste of the dogs is actually almost exactly like the real thing, but much better for you. You should try one if you never have. Not all tofu products succeed in mimicry though. I tried a meatless marinated chicken breast awhile ago and it was like eating a vinegary, stringy gym sock.
Glad to hear your dogs were OK…
A good tofu dog is virtually impossible to tell from a standard hot dog; I have given them to my family/friends on several occasions with none of them being able to tell the difference.
What brand is your favorite? (Smart Dogs are the ones I end up getting the most often).
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/14 "2009-03-23T14:15:55Z")
Y’know, I’ve never had a problem eating food left out for less than ~24 hours. Yesterday, I had a yogurt that had been out for 36. I always eat meat-topped pizza that has been out all night. Am I fecklessly tempting fate? I mean, I’ve reached 35, and have been doing this for 20 years…
Joe
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### Author:  [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/15 "2009-03-23T14:46:38Z")
> [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](#):
>
> The texture and taste of the dogs is actually almost exactly like the real thing, but much better for you.
I’ve eaten plenty of Tofu Pups. They’re definitely an acceptable better-for-you alternative to hot dogs. They taste ok. But let’s not kid ourselves here. They’re “almost exactly like the real thing” the same way that Velveeta is “almost exactly” like artisan cheese.
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### Author:  [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/16 "2009-03-23T14:46:57Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#):
>
> Glad to hear your dogs were OK…
>
> A good tofu dog is virtually impossible to tell from a standard hot dog; I have given them to my family/friends on several occasions with none of them being able to tell the difference.
>
> What brand is your favorite? (Smart Dogs are the ones I end up getting the most often).
This is good to know. I lurve me some hot dogs, but I know how terrible they are for me. I’ve always wanted to try the tofu dogs, but was always a little squicked out by them. Now I know, so thanks!
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/17 "2009-03-23T16:24:29Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#):
>
> Y’know, I’ve never had a problem eating food left out for less than ~24 hours. Yesterday, I had a yogurt that had been out for 36. I always eat meat-topped pizza that has been out all night. Am I fecklessly tempting fate? I mean, I’ve reached 35, and have been doing this for 20 years…
Well, yogurt needs to hang out for at least 8 hours at room temperature to even become yogurt, so it’s not like you are doing anything to crazy. For a healthy adult it is usually okay to take some risks, as long as you realize you could spend a day throwing up now and then.
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### Author:  [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/18 "2009-03-23T16:49:13Z")
Seriously ? A non-meat product, tha’ts going to be cooked, has been left out for only eight hours. Of course it will be fine, unless you live in the tropics or have a weak immune system, its is ok to leave food out of the refrigerator occasionally.
_shakes fist at hermetically sealed OCD cotton wool culture_
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### Author:  [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/19 "2009-03-24T03:13:19Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#):
>
> Glad to hear your dogs were OK…
>
> A good tofu dog is virtually impossible to tell from a standard hot dog; I have given them to my family/friends on several occasions with none of them being able to tell the difference.
>
> What brand is your favorite? (Smart Dogs are the ones I end up getting the most often).
I like the President’s Choice brand, but Yves is a close second. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-food-out-of-the-fridge-too-long/490317/20 "2009-03-24T03:15:18Z")
> [@griffin1977](#):
>
> Seriously ? A non-meat product, tha’ts going to be cooked, has been left out for only eight hours. Of course it will be fine, unless you live in the tropics or have a weak immune system, its is ok to leave food out of the refrigerator occasionally.
>
> _shakes fist at hermetically sealed OCD cotton wool culture_
Well, tofu is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, which is why I balked at it. But I realized that tofu in its original state is more likely to be a problem than the more processed dogs.
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