Salami Safety

[JoNorvelleWalker]

This afternoon I found a bag of sliced supermarket Genoa salami in my bedroom, where it had been several days without refrigeration.  I was wondering where it went.

 

It looked OK.  Do you think it is safe to eat?  Perhaps should I try to pasteurize it?

[Smithy]

I don't know whether it's okay to eat, and I make no claims about being an expert in this area.  Here's what I would do, for my own cast-iron-stomach household's purposes:

 

1.  Sniff it.  Does it smell 'off' or rancid or anything other than the normal meaty spiciness you'd expect?

2.  Feel it.  Is it overly greasy or overly dry?

If it passes those two steps, then I'd taste a little.  How does it taste?  If it passes the taste test then I'd eat oh, a quarter or a half of a slice while the rest was wrapped and put in the refrigerator.  If it still tastes good and there'n no GI tract reaction after roughly 1/2 day, I'd figure it was still good.

 

I'm going on the basis that you can't be dealing with anaerobic bacteria in this case and mold would be easy to detect.  Someone may come along and tell me I'm wrong, all wrong.

[Ashen]

My main concern would be listeria cross contamination from other cold meat sliced on the same machine.    The chances of that are actually quite low  as I understand it.   The half day rule really won't help you with  listeria  though, as it can take up to 70 odd days for it to affect you.  It is  most dangerous to people with a compromised immune system , pregnant women , children, the elderly . It takes a pretty massive dose for a healthy person.    I personally would probably eat the salami , if it smelled and looked ok, but then again I still use raw eggs and eat rare steak and med rare burgers. 

Edited October 27, 2014 by Ashen (log)

[Bill Klapp]

Greetings from the land decorated with hanging, unrefrigerated salamis and hams!  Actually, kidding aside, sliced salami has a greater prospect of spoilage than whole salamis, but as liuzhou notes, it is a cured meat, and as such, it is going to be resistant to spoilage.  If there is no mold, take a whiff, as Smithy suggested above.  (I do not agree with the "overly greasy" notion, however, which can be a good thing, since refrigerated salami not brought to room temperature is not worth eating;  on the other hand, overly dry and curled-up salami is not going to be worth eating, whether safe or not!)   If there is no sour or off-smell, take a small bite.  If it tastes good, eat it;  if not, throw it away.

[Anna N]

If the question "is it safe to eat?" even pops into my mind I discard the food/drink. No food or drink is worth spending even an hour in close approximation to the porcelain bowl in the smallest room in the house. Others may be more tolerant of such an outcome.

[ChrisTaylor]

If the question "is it safe to eat?" even pops into my mind I discard the food/drink. No food or drink is worth spending even an hour in close approximation to the porcelain bowl in the smallest room in the house. Others may be more tolerant of such an outcome.

 

Seconded. What's that old line? If in doubt, throw it out.

 

EDIT

 

And, yeah, salami is a cured product. But salami, ham and similar products--hanging at room temperature even in warmer climes like mine--are left in such states when whole. Sliced meat is a different matter altogether.

[Martin Fisher]

It's not safe.....toss it!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The salami smelled OK, so I am masticating a slice right now.  I see from the label I purchased this salami on 10/18.

 

As to how it happened to be in the bedroom...the bedroom is usually the coolest, darkest room.  When I was unloading groceries I had a bag of oranges that did not fit in the refrigerator.  I must have had the salami in my hand when I took the oranges to the bedroom.  I only noticed the salami because one of the oranges had moldered.

[Bill Klapp]

Don't eat the moldy orange. Show some respect for our "when in doubt, throw it out" brethren! But don't mind me. I never refrigerate butter, either!

I agree in principle that no foodstuff is worth nausea or worse, but I also think that many people who know no better throw out tons of perfectly good food unnecessarily, due to lack of food science knowledge, the fetishing of food science knowledge or subscription to food science voodoo. (I have some leftovers that I do not care for myself!) We humans are teeming with bacteria and all manner of unsavory stuff, as is most everything around us, like it or not. We are still here, and in the first and second worlds at least, we do not even suffer food poisoning with any regularity, and it seems that when we do, restaurants are guilty at least as often as our own kitchens and refrigerators. Compare the incidence of food poisoning in your own life to, say, the incidence of colds and flu!

[Martin Fisher]

I've seen death by Listeriosis.

It's a very, very painful death!

It is rare so the risk is low but the danger is great....of course the risk does significantly increase when eating salami that's been sliced on a deli slicer and left at room temperature for over a week.

And that's saying nothing of the dozens of other pathogens and their toxins which can't be readily detected by the senses.....many of them are not so rare.

Taking a chance just doesn't make sense to me.

[Sartain]

I would be wary of sliced cured meats left on room temperature for days, but then I am firmly in the "when in doubt..." camp.  A related question: if left whole, how long can a salami stay safely in room temperature?

[Martin Fisher]

Depends on the water activity level (Aw) of the salami......it's basically a measure of water available for the  growth of pathogens.

Not all salami is shelf-stable and safe without refrigeration, especially here in the USA.