Ok help me sort out this food issue please

[JMJones]

I got food poisoning while on vacation when I was a teenager. The doctor told me that the most common method of contracting food poisoning that he saw in the ER was from people eating pizza in the morning that had been on the counter for the night.

 

[Ichi]

I don't think many people have gotten sick from eating pizza that's been left out all night. If that were so, we'd have People of all ages dropping like flies all over the world, and that's obviously not happening.
The one who does get sick, must be bacteria sensitive...

 

[ajhuff]

I'm not arguing against the wisdom of Serve Safe, just an anecdote.

When I was in high school my best friend and I would get 2 large pizza and an 8 pack of Coke every Friday and Saturday night. One to eat fresh, the other we left on the counter and ate the next morning. Did that for 2 years, never got sick.

In college, being even smarter, we would do the same thing except instead on leaving the box on the counter we would leave the box on top of the stove. The pilot lights for the burners kept the pizza at a little warmer temp giving a better congealed cheese in the morning Still never got sick.

Luck? Probably but I do think the acidity of the pizza sauce gives you a lot of wiggle room for food poisoning. The bread dough crust of course can stay out at room temp just like any bread. And cheese can too really, like hoop cheese in the old farm store. We only ever got pepperoni and of course it is shelf stable.

Just a meaningless data point.

-AJ

 

[Eamon Burke]

I don't think many people have gotten sick from eating pizza that's been left out all night. If that were so, we'd have People of all ages dropping like flies all over the world, and that's obviously not happening.
The one who does get sick, must be bacteria sensitive...

Hey, I was surprised to find this fact out:
I had a regular customer that was a very busy Orthopedic Surgeon in Dallas, at a major downtown hospital. She said that the number one job all summer, every year, was re-attaching fingers and toes back on to kids because their parents drove over them with a lawnmower. It's like a daily issue.

 

[Ichi]

Funny you should mention that, when I was 5, I got my pinky sliced pretty good by a lawn mower :dazed:

You can never get away from bacteria.

 

[BertMor]

One thing no one has mentioned is that harmful bacteria is not the ony danger. Toxic waste from live organisms are also a real hazzard. The bacteria my die, but before they die they excrete. And that excretion can be deadly. Botulism falls into this catagory. The organism is bad, its waste products are deadly

 

[SpikeC]

Ah yes, bacterial endotoxins! Some of the most interesting compounds around!

 

[goodchef1]

I'm not arguing against the wisdom of Serve Safe, just an anecdote.

When I was in high school my best friend and I would get 2 large pizza and an 8 pack of Coke every Friday and Saturday night. One to eat fresh, the other we left on the counter and ate the next morning. Did that for 2 years, never got sick.

In college, being even smarter, we would do the same thing except instead on leaving the box on the counter we would leave the box on top of the stove. The pilot lights for the burners kept the pizza at a little warmer temp giving a better congealed cheese in the morning Still never got sick.

:lol2: High school and college kids have blue #2 steel lining in their stomachs anyway, so that doesn't count. On a serious note, harmful bacteria does not come from the food itself per se, but from cross contamination. if someone forgot to wash his/her hands after using the restroom and made your pizza, you could have serious problems with that day old slice, as opposed to one that has had proper food handling.

You cannot see organisms with the naked eye so what looks like a dry days old pizza may or may not contain harmful toxins, most of it depends on how the food was handled prior, that's why the government has strict regulations with HACCP. it was instituted for your safety, so you should be wary of those that are careless with food in a commercial setting

as I mentioned earlier about incubation periods of organisms, if you get sick after eating chicken at KFC, it actually could be from that day old pizza you ate 3 days prior. The one made from the people that forgets to wash their hands after using the restrooms.

 

[Vertigo]

Don't your pots have lids? Those on mine seal very tightly as the pot cools.

Tight enough you can basically use your cookware as a canning / jarring medium? Like an air-tight vacuum is created in the pot as it cools down?

Because otherwise, air is getting in your pot, and airborne funk can breed if left in the danger zone for a long enough time.

 

[Miles]

Bottom line, it is a personal decision as to what you do or don't do at home. That said it's best to follow good & proper sanitation practices including observing time and temp. Sure, at home you only risk yourself, family, and/or any guests, not hundreds or thousands of people, but it doesn't take much to seriously ruin someone's day or even life.

 

[steeley]

You can always look up your health dept in your area and find the food handlers test .
take it and see how you score .
:cook:

 

[jgraeff]

Don't your pots have lids? Those on mine seal very tightly as the pot cools.

Its still not a 100% guaranteed that bacteria growth won't take place. I mean some bacteria is microscopic and im sure it can get in through the air and small cracks around the seal.

The best bet is to just be cautious, place i have worked we do a couple different things. It its a big pot of stock, soup, or stew we will place it in the back sinks filled with ice and continually stir until it hits about 72, drain the water and add more ice until its down to 40, strain and place in the cooler.

If your working with something smaller, or something like rice. We just place them in 200 pans and place in front of the fan in the walk-in to cool uncovered and it doesn't take very long just stir every 15 min or so and its usually cooled down within 20-30 min. I do this with sauces as well.

From a professional standpoint its your job to make sure that the food you serve is of the highest quality and that also means the highest food safety is involved.

At home im like most of you i just let things sit out until they cool. But at work we have to be very careful.

 

[jmforge]

You know the great thing about botulism poisoning? if you survive, not only do you lose weight, but all of your wrinkles go away!!!!!