I didn’t real the post BC I’m tired but I would like to say some places i worked in NYS had food guidelines for vegetables, meats, etc., and for seafood it just said “GET REAL” in all caps and I always read it in a sarcastic voice in my head lol.

I habituality leave pizza on the counter for breakfast the next morning but that’s about the exception. Everything else I try to refrigerate before going to sleep for the night. I eat mostly veggie.

So as a person who’s been in that back area of a restaurant, we all know the danger zone is anything above 40F to 140F and the closer you are to that median temperature that median temperature the faster that bacteria multiplies, meat, vegetables, doesn’t matter, as long as the temperature’s right and there’s enough moisture there, they’ll breed like bacteria and there are bacteria that leaves toxins behind that will also make you sick.

So given that, I’ve always put stuff into the fridge as soon as were done eating generally following the two hour rule and it’s been sitting out for more than four hours without refrigeration, I’ll usually toss it.

Canadian living in Australia. Omnivore.

Kicker: Food technologist and health inspector. AMA.

Tl;dr: Doesn’t matter if it’s meat or veg. It goes in the fridge. Follow 2h/4h rule. Edit: Should specify certain veg are potentially hazardous as soon as you cut in to them, like leafy greens. All cooked or partially veg that should be treated like meat.

For work, I’m fairly strict in businesses because the food can go anywhere once it’s in the hands on the customer, even in restaurants or at home. You can look at your dine in customers and they all look healthy, but what if they’re not, or where do the leftovers go? Do they take it home after date night to share some with little Bobby or Grandma Jane? In business, you do what you can to keep the food as “clean” as you can.

At home and in food businesses, handwashing is ALWAYS a problem. Food handlers are always touching their faces, phones, hip towel they’ve had on all day, touching a towel they use used to wipe their hands after only rinsing hands in water in the sink, and then touching lettuce for a salad. So even at home, you can cook things to keep bacteria, but is the scoop, container, and your hands clean? Dust, pollen, flies, hairs, etc also carry microbes, and if any of them fall in to food after its been cooked, the bacteria can grow.

It also depends on the type of bacteria, too. Salmonella can infect at an extremely low dose, and Staphylococcus infects at very high doses.

I follow the 2h/4h rule for anything potentially hazardous. Of course, at home, I’m a bit more flexible, usually +/- 1h. If I make myself sick, alright, but there’s no way I’m going to make anyone else sick, so if I’m making food for others, I keep to the strict rules. I’m also generally more risk adverse because the thought of anything involuntary coming out either end makes me sick just thinking about it.

I think the amount of time a food stays out is cultural, and if you grew up with it, your gut will have gotten used to the levels of bacteria. Us westerners generally get sick drinking tap water in certain countries when the locals are fine. I used to live with a Japanese lady for a year, and she knew what I did for a living. She always left rice out all night and ate it the next day. One day, she came to me with it and said “does this smell weird?” and it was a definite yes from me. I’d never leave cooked rice out that long and feel comfortable eating it.

So yeah, Bacillus cereus or whatever bacteria present may not occur all the time, but it does happen. Imagine making large batches and serving to large numbers of unrelated people.

Another thing: Cool foods within 2h to a reasonable temperature (I say 40C is fine) before putting it in the the fridge uncovered. If you put hot food in the fridge, you run the risk of warming up the foods already in the fridge.

Wash your hands.

And use a thermometer. Make sure it’s clean before you use it.

Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.

We lean towards vegetarian, minimum meat consumption for both health and environmental reasons.

As far as leaving food out…only foods that don’t require refrigeration. Bread, snacks, etc. Anything cooked that is still hot will be allowed to cool before going into the fridge, no need to make the fridge work harder, but it doesn’t stay out long enough to be a food safety problem.

Uncooked foods that are dangers to bacteria growth like meats and the like don’t sit out ever or are carefully thawed. Eggs? They’re fine out of the fridge, just crack them individually into a small bowl to make sure they’re good before use. I think I’ve only ever had one bad egg left out and it was pretty obvious, they just last a lot longer if refrigerated. Greens and other veg just wilt and dehydrate if not used quickly unless refrigerated, but leaving them out isn’t an issue. They get washed before use.

Anyway…I do most all the cooking and take food safety seriously. I’ve had one serious bout of food poisoning from a restaurant and that made death seem like a viable option vs the misery of constantly evacuating everything in your body for a few days, and the memory stuck with me. You can cook great food that’s been prepared to the correct and safe temperature, and I have little issue with foods that have been cooked like this, left out to cool and refrigerated, then reheated to a proper temperature.

Also… thinking rice or pastas are fine left out because no animal proteins, think again.

I leave food on the counter all the time, because If I’m still hungry in a little while, I don’t want my food cold. I have never in my life gotten food poisoning from it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromort?wprov=sfla1

I’m unable to find micromort numbers for food-poisoning or food preservation techniques, but my wild guess is that leaving an average vegetarian leftover overnight at an average kitchen temperature on the averagely cleaned kitchen counter, unrefrigerated and even not covered at all, then eating it the next day (maybe reheated) is gonna be negligible amounts of risk compared to many many many other risks people take everyday without blinking their eye about it (such as walking, driving, climbing stairs, swimming, drinking alcohol, using cleaning products, inhaling/eating environmental pollution, not washing hands after toilet, …)

I keep my lunch in my work bag all day, not in the fridge, unless it’s salad where it should be crisp.

I did the European thing where I kept eggs on the counter. It’s best that way. Real unwashed farm eggs, not shit from the grocery store.

Ants are everywhere in south east asia so I’d never or build a little tower with a water bowl underneath it.

Omnivore.

Bread cools overnight on the counter after cooking then wrapped and stays on the counter.

Butter in a closed container, for however long until it’s all used.

Pizza overnight if it doesn’t have meat

Cut onion, if I cut some for breakfast I will just turn it cut side down on the cutting board if I’m gonna use the rest soon, like at supper same day.

If beans are left out too long I do the “hard boil for 5 minutes”.

I do make fermented beverages and pickles, those ferment at room temp for days to weeks.

It would bother me at a restaurant or store, since that is proper, legal food safety shit. If it needs to be kept cold, it can’t be out of cold for more than 30 minutes.

However, at home? I don’t care too much. Unless it’s been out all day, I’ll just nuke it and that should kill anything.

Another factor that hasn’t been mentioned: I’m young and healthy, I don’t want to have salmonella, but I’m pretty sure I’d probably be okay. If I am sick or cooking for people who have weak immune systems for whatever reasons, I do much stricter than for my lazy bachelor self.

Otherwise, I live by “if it smells and looks good, it’s probably good”. Obvious conditions apply of course, in hot, humid weather, I’m trying to leave nothing out, in cold weather, I’ll happily eat cold pizza from the day before.

I have a degree in microbiology and I am not sure. I could look it up but im comfotable with my gut. Raw food that needs to be refrigerated we don’t leave out for any longer than necessary and use cooler bags and such. Cooked food we won’t put in the fridge till its almost room temp

Ive left excess pasta on the stove overnight, I’ve left pizza open on the counter and eaten it the day after (though if there’s only a couple slices they stay in the microwave on a cutout of the box ready to be nuked in the morning/next days lunch)

Still alive, still haven’t given myself food poisoning

I’m vegan. Generally speaking, whatever we cook for dinner gets left out overnight. I’ll chuck the pan in the oven so the cats don’t lick it, but unless it’s hot/summer then food is usually fine at room temp for 24hrs. Been doing this for 20+ years.

Anecdotal evidence rules! Everyone posting here is alive!
The estimated 420,000 folks who die annually from improper food and water handling refuse to post!!!
Great stuff!