Meat lovers pizza left at room temperature for 24 hours. Would you eat it?

[Leonard Neemoil]

Would you eat a local Mom and Pop joint meat lovers pizza that has sat at room temperature for 24 hours?

You get one choice and it sticks, no changing votes. Explain why you voted like you did if you don't mind.

What do you folks think?

 

[Timo V]

The average doubling time of e. coli is 20 minutes. If there's one of those left in the beginning, in theory there would be 2 to the power of 72 after 24 hours... No, I would not eat the pizza.

 

[PelliX]

I've done this plenty of times, though generally it was closer to 12 hours. Timo's point is correct, there's probably a risk to it, but in practice it doesn't seem so bad. The main determining factors for me would be the smell and the toppings. If there was tuna on it and that had dried up and gone all crunchy for example, meh. Salami that's just gone cold, fine.

 

[Timo V]

I've done this plenty of times, though generally it was closer to 12 hours. Timo's point is correct, there's probably a risk to it, but in practice it doesn't seem so bad. The main determining factors for me would be the smell and the toppings. If there was tuna on it and that had dried up and gone all crunchy for example, meh. Salami that's just gone cold, fine.

12hrs could be safe to eat, however.... after 12 more hours there would be around 69 billion times more bacteria and toxins. Also bacteria could be benign, not toxins producing types. In that case there would only be taste and smell issues. But if in the beginning there was toxin producing types... It really comes down to how lucky you are.

 

[PelliX]

Fair call. I've always got away with eating just about anything, so my stomach is used to a fair bit of this and that. While I'm not a 'dirty' person, I don't try to make everything absolutely sterile. It's my belief that an immune system works best when it regularly has a bit of something to do. True, with dogs around the house it's already getting a light workout. I do pay a little more attention to detail when dealing with raw meat, chicken and so on.

A friend of mine studied "food technology", and a large part of that was recognizing dangerous conditions, substances, etc. Apparently, during his training, one of the teachers would bring something 'expired' to class and explain what the likely result of eating it would be. Pupils were free to try, if they dared. "This is probably going to make you throw up and you might get the runs. No real danger, though.". "I wouldn't eat this, that'll have you over the toilet for the next three days.". Often enough it would be a case of "This is absolutely disgusting, but utterly harmless. If you can get it down, you probably won't need lunch today.".

 

[Eric'45]

It depends on the room temperature. During the winter months, if it does look somewhat good and doesn't smell obviously bad, I would and have tried it. Cold Pizza is good for breakfast.
During this time of year? No way. A Plate of leftovers will attract flies already.

 

[Robb]

I would 'cause I did many times

 

[iblive]

You may be able to get away with the cooked meat….. but no way the cheese. A couple hours is max for cheese to sit at room temperature before it becomes a no no to eat.

 

[PelliX]

You may be able to get away with the cooked meat….. but no way the cheese. A couple hours is max for cheese to sit at room temperature before it becomes a no no to eat.

How so? I'm quite partial to pizza left-overs from the night before in the morning, much like Robb. Never had any trouble from it, either...

 

[iblive]

How so? I'm quite partial to pizza left-overs from the night before in the morning, much like Robb. Never had any trouble from it, either...

“According to official food safety standards like the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, most cheese should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours (or one hour if the room is above 90°F). However, safety depends heavily on whether the cheese is hard or soft.”

Cold pizza is fine as long as it’s been in the fridge overnight. I don’t do it. But many do. The premise was, it’s been sitting out on the counter all night. That is bad and unhealthy.

 

[GrooVey]

I have.

Most of our American food is loaded with so much crap that isn’t “food,” it’s takes days for stuff to grow.

 

[PelliX]

“According to official food safety standards like the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, most cheese should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours (or one hour if the room is above 90°F). However, safety depends heavily on whether the cheese is hard or soft.”

Sure, some cheeses like Parmesan and such are intended to be stored around room-ish temperatures or even Cheddar. I'd assume (I'm no expert) that the fact that the cheese was molten and presumably reached about 200C or more typically would reduce the chances of complications?

Cold pizza is fine as long as it’s been in the fridge overnight. I don’t do it. But many do. The premise was, it’s been sitting out on the counter all night. That is bad and unhealthy.

I never put it in the fridge.... The Dutch eat a lot of deep fried food and I've found that works well to preserve some things until the next day. Not rigously tested or backed by science, just my observation, hehe...

 

[iblive]

Sure, some cheeses like Parmesan and such are intended to be stored around room-ish temperatures or even Cheddar. I'd assume (I'm no expert) that the fact that the cheese was molten and presumably reached about 200C or more typically would reduce the chances of complications?


I never put it in the fridge.... The Dutch eat a lot of deep fried food and I've found that works well to preserve some things until the next day. Not rigously tested or backed by science, just my observation, hehe...

Not a germafobe like so many have become these days. As a kid. I ate dirt. Drank out of the hose. Got scraped up and bleeding and never stopped playing. Totally believe it’s why even at my “advanced” age. I don’t get sick. I trained my body. But there are limits. This would be one of them.

 

[PelliX]

What doesn't kill you, will only make you stronger give you cool stories to tell.

 

[marshalltsl]

You may be able to get away with the cooked meat….. but no way the cheese. A couple hours is max for cheese to sit at room temperature before it becomes a no no to eat.

I agree. Cheese is the worst cooked ingredient on a pizza to eat after 24 hours If you don't put in the refrigerador. If the cheese has passed its expiration date, it should never be eaten.

 

[PelliX]

If the cheese has passed its expiration date, it should never be eaten.

To be honest, I don't look at expiration dates in most cases. If cheese smells and looks OK, I'll assume it is OK and carefully taste it to check. My misses tells me this is why men have a shorter lifespan on average...

In this case it wouldn't be past the expiry, it would just have been prepared and left out for a day. We'll assume that it was well within bounds when the pizza was prepared and baked.

 

[Mike_LA]

It was cooked within 24 hours as well, so it's starting out pretty bacteria free.
Ya, bacteria does multiple quickly but my kitchen is clean and to me, the bacteria needs more time to establish.

 

[Mike_LA]

I agree. Cheese is the worst cooked ingredient on a pizza to eat after 24 hours If you don't put in the refrigerador.

Do you ever eat brie? Got to leave that out

 

[PelliX]

The thing is that when you cook or bake something (let alone deep fry, but that's another matter) you effectively kill *most* of the bacteria. Only a few types can survive, of which I believe only one or two can be problematic.

Thermal death time - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Do you ever eat brie? Got to leave that out

Traditionally, butter wasn't kept in the fridge, either. That's a dairy product, but due to the salt it's still fine after a few days.

 

[Seamus OReally]

I have.

Most of our American food is loaded with so much crap that isn’t “food,” it’s takes days for stuff to grow.

That’s not true. Preservatives aren’t antibiotic.