Bad food?

[lindag]

I left half a baked sweet potato on the counter overnight by mistake.

Will I get sick if I eat it now?  ( I refrigerated it early this morning as soon as I discovered it).

[JoNorvelleWalker]

20 minutes ago, lindag said:

I left half a baked sweet potato on the counter overnight by mistake.

Will I get sick if I eat it now?  ( I refrigerated it early this morning as soon as I discovered it).

 

Let us know.  (I would eat it.)

 

[gfweb]

probably not

you could re heat it. not a guarantee of safety, but not nothing

Edited May 1, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[Darienne]

I would eat it also.  But I wouldn't give it to anyone else to eat.  Oh, Ed would eat it for sure.

[Martin Fisher]

You can't smell or see pathogenic bacteria, etc.

Is 1/2 a baked sweet potato worth the risk of possibly falling very ill.

The decision is yours.

Me? Compost!!!

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

 I agree that the best recommendation is "When in doubt, throw it out."    That said, i am most suspicious of unrefrigerated egg, meat or fish.   Left out veg, I'd probably eat.   But i also put lots of faith in our minds' influence on our health.    Worrying about whether I will get sick is not worth half a sweet potato or fries.   

[Martin Fisher]

It was grown in the ground, no telling what sort of spores, etc. were on the outside — they're often not reliably killed during baking, etc.

Who know's what sort of poop it was grown in!?

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[Martin Fisher]

FDA Bad Bug Book (Second Edition)

[Martin Fisher]

I'm very sensitive about such things.

I saw a cow die from listeriosis — it was absolutely HORRIBLE!!!

When I told our neighborhood veterinarian recently, she said "Wow! Most people would have no idea!"

And who wants to end up in an emergency room during this time!!! I don't at any time, but especially this time.

[lindag]

I ate it.  Tasted very good.

I’ll let you know if I start vomiting.

[weinoo]

I often eat garbage, but only in the form of potato chips, cheeze doodles or whatever they're called, Frito's, et al.

[Darienne]

I was  telling Ed about this topic and remembered a friend, a professor Physics at my local university, who hailed from Madagascar originally.  He cooked his own meals separately from the rest of his family, French wife, three children, and never put any of his cooked dishes, meat or otherwise, in the fridge.  He would have been raised without a fridge and so carried on in that fashion.  Other groups...as in non-North American origins...have different habits I would guess.  Even Ed and I, both North American origin,  have differing standards as to what we will and won't eat according to cleanliness, cooking methods, storage, etc. 

 

Glad the potato tasted delicious, @lindag.

[lindag]

2 minutes ago, Darienne said:

 

 

Glad the potato tasted delicious, @lindag.

 

Thanks, no ill effects from it.

[heidih]

45 minutes ago, Darienne said:

I was  telling Ed about this topic and remembered a friend, a professor Physics at my local university, who hailed from Madagascar originally.  He cooked his own meals separately from the rest of his family, French wife, three children, and never put any of his cooked dishes, meat or otherwise, in the fridge.  He would have been raised without a fridge and so carried on in that fashion.  Other groups...as in non-North American origins...have different habits I would guess.  Even Ed and I, both North American origin,  have differing standards as to what we will and won't eat according to cleanliness, cooking methods, storage, etc. 

 

Glad the potato tasted delicious, @lindag.

 

My bestie (Saigon last day evac - April 30, 1975) always leaves food out. She lives!

[Dr. Teeth]

16 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

I'm very sensitive about such things.

I saw a cow die from listeriosis — it was absolutely HORRIBLE!!!

When I told our neighborhood veterinarian recently, she said "Wow! Most people would have no idea!"

And who wants to end up in an emergency room during this time!!! I don't at any time, but especially this time.

I would agree with DDF on this one, although staph aureus is more of a worry than listeria given that it was already baked.   But since it’s 12 hours after you ate it you probably got away with it though.

[kayb]

When I was a kid in the country, I knew several farm families who always served their main meal at noon. When it was over, dishes were covered but left on the table, and the evening meal was the same food, room temp. Houses generally weren't air conditioned, so this could mean six to eight hours in temps of over 80F. Don't remember anyone getting ill from it.

 

Not that I would try that now. I've occasionally left things out overnight that I intended to keep, but wine or getting sleepy got in the way. My rule of thumb is that if it's a cured meat, or pretty acidic (spaghetti sauce, vegetable soup), I'll chance it. Otherwise, it goes.

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by kayb (log)

[Tri2Cook]

There's always a risk. I've landed on both sides of the luck line. The vast majority of the time, I've got away with it. The few times I didn't, I swore I'd never do it again. Maury determined that was a lie. One thing that's never let me down is table pizza. That leftover pizza you see when you come stumbling out of your bedroom on a Sunday morning wishing the sun wasn't so bright that puts a big happy smile on your face. The hangover breakfast of champions. I don't know how many times I did that one when I was younger but it never once resulted in regret. These days, the leftover pizza goes in the fridge too.

[Katie Meadow]

First of all, if you are debating whether or not to refrigerate something it means you can avoid a problem right there. If you literally forgot and left open food out on the counter, I agree that what it is makes a difference but so does the overnight temp in your kitchen. I'd be far less concerned about a slice of pizza in a cold kitchen than in a warm one. When it comes to soup, my experience is that leaving soup out is not a good idea, especially if it has been heated up. I've always heard that getting freshly made stock cooled down quickly prevents bacteria from growing.

 

The definition of hangover pizza doesn't necessarily mean you passed out before you could clean up a bit.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I intentionally leave leftover pizza (should there be any) out at room temperature.

 

[andiesenji]

Twelve hours - you should be okay.  If you eat any of the peel, it would be problematic after 18 hours, maybe a little less. Botulism spore can survive surprisingly long when insulated by the thickness of potato skins but it takes a while for them to develop and begin producing the spores.  A bit over 20 years ago there was a bulletin put out by one of the state health departments, published in one of the "Food-something-News"  about a group camping event where a large bunch of potatoes were roasted and served at supper one day. There were many uneaten that were saved without refrigeration and eaten the next evening.  Several people became ill and were hospitalized. There were no deaths but it was definitely botulism.

It reminded me of the '60s, when we would camp in the High Sierras - usually near Convict Lake.  I used to bake very large russet potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil in the coals and occasionally I would have extras. For some reason, I always removed the foil and would put them in a Tupperware container and store them in the cooler, under the ice.  My husband thought they could be left out but I had memories of being told, when I was a child, that one NEVER left potatoes, especially with the peels, out of the ice box. (we had refrigerators but they were always called "Ice boxes."  

 

When we got back from one of the camping trips, I asked my boss and he told me to call his friend, a pathologist and he told me about how "sneaky" the Botulinus organisms could be.  He said, Never store cooked potatoes with the skin out of a fridge.  If peeled, they could be stored longer but no more than a day - then other organisms would invade.

[Tri2Cook]

16 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

The definition of hangover pizza doesn't necessarily mean you passed out before you could clean up a bit.

 

You clearly drank in different circles than I did back when I was still.doing that. 😁

[Dr. Teeth]

18 hours ago, andiesenji said:

Twelve hours - you should be okay.  If you eat any of the peel, it would be problematic after 18 hours, maybe a little less. Botulism spore can survive surprisingly long when insulated by the thickness of potato skins but it takes a while for them to develop and begin producing the spores.  A bit over 20 years ago there was a bulletin put out by one of the state health departments, published in one of the "Food-something-News"  about a group camping event where a large bunch of potatoes were roasted and served at supper one day. There were many uneaten that were saved without refrigeration and eaten the next evening.  Several people became ill and were hospitalized. There were no deaths but it was definitely botulism.

It reminded me of the '60s, when we would camp in the High Sierras - usually near Convict Lake.  I used to bake very large russet potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil in the coals and occasionally I would have extras. For some reason, I always removed the foil and would put them in a Tupperware container and store them in the cooler, under the ice.  My husband thought they could be left out but I had memories of being told, when I was a child, that one NEVER left potatoes, especially with the peels, out of the ice box. (we had refrigerators but they were always called "Ice boxes."  

 

When we got back from one of the camping trips, I asked my boss and he told me to call his friend, a pathologist and he told me about how "sneaky" the Botulinus organisms could be.  He said, Never store cooked potatoes with the skin out of a fridge.  If peeled, they could be stored longer but no more than a day - then other organisms would invade.

umm.   Botulinum is an obligate anaerobe.   There is no chance it grows on a potato sitting out an a counter.   What you would be worried about is staph food poisoning, which will make you sick, but isn’t fatal.

[fondue]

On 5/1/2020 at 5:15 PM, Darienne said:

a professor Physics at my local university, who hailed from Madagascar originally.  He cooked his own meals separately from the rest of his family, French wife, three children, and never put any of his cooked dishes, meat or otherwise, in the fridge.  He would have been raised without a fridge and so carried on in that fashion.  

 

@lindag.

 

The secret to Madagascar food is a tiny, explosively hot pepper called "pili-pili", and tomatoes and lime juice.  Very acidic and spicy.  The stews are boiled for a long time before they are eaten.  Most people still do not have refrigerators here.

[Darienne]

7 hours ago, fondue said:

 

The secret to Madagascar food is a tiny, explosively hot pepper called "pili-pili", and tomatoes and lime juice.  Very acidic and spicy.  The stews are boiled for a long time before they are eaten.  Most people still do not have refrigerators here.

However, he lived in Peterborough, Ontario where a Jalapeño is considered exotic.  There would be no 'pili-pili' available here.