Cooked food (+seafood) left out overnight - common practice in some parts of the world? My partner and I made some shrimp pasta last and forgot to put the leftovers in the fridge. The next morning I promptly proceeded to throw it away, but my partner stopped me and said it was still good to eat. I was very surprised and told him no way should we eat this, and he in turn was very surprised that I would think it was unsafe. He claimed maybe it's a culture thing-- He's from Japan and said people do it all the time there, but noticed his friends in the UK (where we live now) are much more careful. He claims it's also common practice in other places he's lived. I told him it's definately not considered best practice in my home country, but to be fair food freshness in the US is sometimes questionable (e.g. it's not necessary to store eggs in the fridge in most parts of the world).
Am I missing something? Is he just taking a massive risk or have I been raised with overly sanitised food safety practices?
I know I'm going to get panned for this… ;)
Eating something left out overnight can only kill you once; every other time it doesn't.
If bacteria were growing in it they've had sufficient time to build to harmful levels. This is not a 'good thing'.
However, people have been eating last night's leftovers for today's lunch since time immemorial &amp; most of them lived to tell the tale.
Food safety authorities write guidelines for restaurants &amp; commercial kitchens, reducing the potential risk as far as is possible. Restaurants must follow these guidelines because not doing so can kill people.
If it goes awry in a restaurant it can kill many people.
Killing people is not good for business.
These authorities say that keeping food at higher than 4°C &amp; under 60°C for more than two hours [cumulative] is no longer guaranteed to be safe.
This is true.
If it's your own leftovers, it's your call.
Most people do it, most people survive. Some don't.
It's a numbers game. The only one at risk is you.
Right - time to microwave last night's curry leftovers…