Would You Eat It??

Here's my total hypocrisy:

If I cooked it? Yep.
If someone else did? Nope.

It's totally hypocritical, as I said. However, I know my food handling (defrost, wash, cooked to 180, rest, and airtight covering). I don't know other people's (if it was left out raw, not rinsed of organs, etc., not cooked to temp, left where bugs could get at it).

The only caveat is when I can see it (prep/cooking/storing) and Im watching it / smelling it. Like when my mum has stuff out. Then its 50-50 and is just based on long experience.

When in doubt : Throw it out.

Ewwwww I would be told by my family that I'm crazy but I would end up making myself sick just trying it and worrying. No way would I eat it.

The time a turkey spends out of my fridge from thawing to putting away leftovers is at least that long and it has never made anyone in my household sick.

This is always my thinking, $20 Turkey, $2000 emergency room visit. My mind is made up quickly.

It's poultry so no I would not eat it. I would actually be terrified it might make me personally ill. I realize it was cooked while it sat out but still the fact remains it was not out for a mere hour or two but rather for many hours. I wouldn't take my chances with it personally. I proudly will claim my paranoia on this issue.

No, you are not stupid or paranoid...I am with you 100% - there is no way I would be eating that turkey!

My daughter did a huge science competition earlier this year that involved foodborne illnesses and food safety, and I coached her. So here's what the Centers for Disease Control taught us: TWO hours (not four, as someone else posted) is the outer limit for food sitting outside the fridge. After that it's starting to cook up bacteria. That turkey sat out for 11 hours. I would never eat it and wouldn't let my family eat it either.

And pizza? Heck no, that goes in the fridge too. Look at it this way -- you would not eat lasagna that sat out on the counter all night, right? So why do your friends think pizza is different? Pasta (crust), cheeses, sauce, etc. in both of them, so why would one be immune to bacteria and the other not? Pizza is not some special exception to the rule of refrigeration and it's some kind of urban myth that it doesn't need refrigeration. I bet the folks who eat it after it's been out haven't mentioned that they have some interesting stomach rumbles and trips to the toilet after eating it; they just haven't thought to connect the dots. It's just dumb luck that they haven't gotten something worse.

I know how you feel about your in-laws and things like leaving the chicken-veg dish "under the window unit." My sister-in-law and her husband used to live in a tiny apartment in Europe with a tiny fridge (that they never even bothered to plug in) and bought food in smallish amounts every day to cook and eat that night. They just let any leftovers sit out to be reused for lunch the next day or dinner the next night, if there were any. And for years my brother-in-law complained of his delicate stomach and digestive problems! They are bright, well-educated people who did not think to relate his always delicate stomach to the fact that they frequently ate food that had sat out all night and half the next day. They were used to homes with tiny fridges and a culture where many folks shop almost daily and don't bring home giant grocery loads to stock in a fridge, but I can't believe they didn't understand that leaving food out like that was nuts. Finally they moved to a larger place (still with a tiny fridge) but actually plugged in this one and started using it as if it were a revelation. My brother-in-law's stomach issues improved....!

I wouldn't worry about it since it was fully cooked. Anything that could hurt you was dead and that isn't enough time for anything to start growing in it either.

Really it isn't safe to put something straight from the over to the fridge anyway.

People for hundreds of years did not have refrigeration. When I was a kid the food sat on the table all day for holidays and people grazed when they got hungry. No one got sick and no one died.

You're being a bit silly. Had it sat there until that night out in the open for a whole day then I would most likely let everyone else eat it and not had any myself but I really don't like turkey at all.

I wouldn't eat it, but maybe their stomachs are a bit tougher. I know a lot of people who don't refrigerate their food and pick at it the next day. I just make a mental note to eat before I get to their house.

Actually pizza is fine staying out of the fridge. My friend does it and I thought it was gross, but when I Googled it I learned it doesn't need to be in the fridge...go figure.

As for the turkey...I'd have ate it, the kids would eat it. The only time it's a big no is if it isn't cooked all the way through. Food should also not be hot when put in the fridge, not even warm. It raises the temp of the fridge leaving the rest of your food open to bacteria.

I say we NEVER know what we eat in a restaurant or at an office pot luck, so if you don't wanna eat it, don't. But don't make her feel bad about it.

I've heard that leftovers should be put into the fridge within 2 hours of it being cooked.
If it was left out over night, I'm sorry but it should go into the trash.
It's just not worth risking the botulism, salmonella and/or ptomaine poisoning.
I would not care in the least if anyone thought I was stupid.
I'd be alive and well and not needing my stomach pumped out and know I was right.
Eating it is like playing Russian roulette with food - it's just not worth it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/food-safe...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-safety/AN01095

This reminds me of what my MIL and SIL said on thanksgiving. As they were heading home I told them to take some leftovers because I couldn't fit it all in my fridge. My SIL said 'I think the ham and turkey are ok if they sit out for like a day or so'. She then asked her mom and her mom agreed. Wth?!?!

Of course I ignored that and squished everything in the fridge as best as I could. I had my suspicions after last year we spent thanksgiving night at their house and I saw the ham sitting out in the same exact place it had been the night before. Yuck!!!!

The most I'll tolerate is when the turkey or ham sits out a couple hours right after being cooked while everyone eats and then waits a while and then gets second helpings. After that it's straight to fridge!

Don't eat it and throw it out. I can use the "Sorry, we have weakened immunity" excuse, but even if I was healthy I would not eat it.

My MIL did something similar with a ham and we were sick for four days.
Never again.

Ick.

Then again, well so one year we were visiting my MIL (she lives in another country, Europe). Anyway, so she made a nice dinner. Meat was involved with sauces mingling with it. The next morning, I wake up, me and Hubby go to the kitchen to make ourselves breakfast... AND THERE WAS THE MEAL FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE STILL ON THE STOVE TOP! ICK!
I tell my Husband "Your MOM... did not put the leftovers in the fridge!?!?" And he says "She always does that..." and that growing up, that's what she did. And they never got sick eating it the next day. It is "cold" there, so it keeps. That is their way.... of.... it.
I thought it was so icky. I just thought of food poisoning... and how during the night bugs come out and feast on it. Sure she had it covered, but still, the dinner meal was just left out, on the stove top, and was not put away in the fridge for the next day.
Talk about... different ways of doing things.
My Hubby said he never got sick from it before.

All I can say is: Ick. No way I am still eating it.

It was sitting at room temperature for about 11 hours? I wouldn't eat it. Food that sits at temps between 40 and 140 degrees are growing bacteria. Left overs need to be refrigerated within about two hours of cooking. Why wouldn't she have just carved the turkey right away, put the meat in the fridge, and put the carcass on to simmer for soup? I would offer it up on freecycle to people who make their own dog food, so it won't be completely wasted. Dogs have enzymes in their stomaches that keep them from getting food borne illnesses that we get.

I'm with you. My mother does the same sort of thing and we battle about every time we get together, but I'm not eating meat that's been sitting out for hours - it's not worth it!
The pizza could be ok, depending on what's on it.

No. I wouldn't eat it. Thats gross! Just read your SWH.

I would toss it. I have worked in the food industry a few times before and anything that is left out more than 4 hours is bad. I'm like you, I put everything in the fridge or freezer asap. My MIL will also leave things out overnight and it drives me crazy. I don't eat when I'm at her house. I make sure to eat before, lol!

I have had numerous food safety licenses and lots of training in this as a restaurant & kitchen manager.

2 hours after the turkey comes out of the oven, it should be moved to the fridge. Then, it can take up to 2 hours for that turkey to reach a refrigerated temp of 33 to 40 degrees. At the 4 hour mark, it HAS TO be at 40 degrees or less. If not, you can guarantee there's bacteria happily existing and growing on your food.

Having worked for a restaurant and had to take the food handlers course, I say DO NOT EAT IT. There is a time limit on food for bacteria to set in, it is about 2-4 hours. You can contact the health department for he exa t times and temps. It is better to be safe than be sick.