Eating Food Which Has Been Out for a Long Time Could Result in Foodborne Illness

Have you ever eaten a slice of pizza that you took out of a box that has been on the counter overnight? Or, is brunch your first meal of the day that you begin to pick at eggs and bacon, which have been on the table since early morning?

According to food safety experts, this behavior "is ill-advised and a recipe for" for developing foodborne disease.

After preparing dinner, ordering takeout, or packed your leftover foods at a restaurant, according to the United States Department of Agriculture or USDA, the food should be stored in the fridge for two hours.

More so, if the temperature outside your home is too warm, the USDA said, the timeline decreases. Specifically, the agriculture department added, when it hits 90°F, you can only safely leave the food out for one hour.

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When shopping for food at the grocery, it is important that you plan your trip so that, the market would be your final stop before heading home.

The 2-Hour Guideline

There is an excellent reason for the two-hour guideline mentioned earlier- food that sits at room temperature develops a "breeding ground for unfriendly bacteria."

According to nutrition and food safety expert Toby Amidor, RD, FAND, microbes can grow fast on food "when it is left at room temps" from 40 to 140°F. Amidor is also the author of the bestselling cookbook, "The Create-Your-Plate Diabetes Cookbook."

The said temperature range, the USDA said, usually pertains to the "danger zone" as it is so welcoming to the growth of bacteria like Salmonella Enteritidis, E. coli or Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus.

These microbes, International Food Information Council's food technology communications director said, can result in foodborne disease if consumed.

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What to Do with Grocery-Bought Foods

Amidor also said, the guideline for the validity of food, when left out of the refrigerator, applies to grocery stores, as well.

This is the reason, and he continued, if you go shopping for food at the grocery, it is important that you plan your trip so that the market would be your final stop before heading home.

On warm days, when going home from the grocery store, you should place the perishables in the backseat and not in the trunk so that food can be in the air-conditioned part of your vehicle. You can stash food in a cooler, as well.

Possible Exposure to Foodborne Illness

Any individual who falls victim to foodborne illness is certainly familiar with the two reasons for best avoiding it-first, it is painful. Second, it is unpleasant. Unfortunately, when you develop the disease, you experience both.

Experts say the most common foodborne illness symptoms are diarrhea and/or vomiting, abdominal pain and cramps, fatigue and fever among others.

Notably, Amidor explained, the exact symptoms of foodborne illness can vary according to the toxins or bacteria eaten.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, foodborne illness is a major concern. Every year, around 48 million individuals fall ill because of this disease.

Furthermore, over 100,000 people get hospitalized, and around 3,000 die every year, as a result, based on the estimates of the CDC.

However, the USDA said, not all foodborne illness cases occur because of food that's been left out longer than their validity. A lot of them, the department added, are caused by "undercooked meat or consumption of produce with pathogen."

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