Food spoilage question

The Edifying Conscience · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 2441

Last night I made ratatouille for dinner with garden fresh vegetables. I love it when served with a bit of fresh goat cheese. Me being a dumb a$$, forgot to refrigerate the cheese and I never saw it sitting on the counter until 15 minutes ago...3:30pm. Would you eat it or not? I'm leaning towards throwing it out, but wondered if some of you would eat it.

cruelshoes · Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 2550 Location: Washington State

I would toss it. Especially since goat cheese is a soft cheese. Anything over 2 hours is stretching it for dairy products. When in doubt, throw it out. I would hate for you to get sick. Sad

Bummer. Hope it wasn't too expensive. I hate it when I forget to put something back in the reefer. Last time I did it it was an almost new jar of mayo. I grudgingly threw it out, though. I had food poisoning once and landed in the hospital for 5 days. Not fun.
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Dx 8/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
10-YO son Dx 11/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
Daughters (12 and 2) have neg. bloodwork

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aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8607 Location: WI, USA

cruelshoes · Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 2550 Location: Washington State

The Edifying Conscience · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 2441

Thanks Colleen! I need to clean out the reefer this evening and the goat cheese will be the first to go. I figured it was better to throw it out but thought I would ask anyway. Didn't know the 2 hour rule about dairy...good info! It was a small rather inexpensive package of cheese so the loss was minimal. The only problem is that for me eating ratatouille without goat cheese is like having a BLT without the B. I'll have to pick up another pckg tomorrow. I'm off to make chicken makhani for dinner.

The reefer comments were funny! Thanks for the chuckle.

nancw · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 855 Location: Denver, CO

Funny you should bring this up TEC. The last two times we have had primo beef (last month we were guests at a party at Morton's, the other was Sunday night), I've left my leftovers out overnight and cursed myself for doing so - call it "lack of reefer" madness. Leftovers are a huge part of my lunch plan.
I'm kind of funny like this, but if anything is out of the fridge more than an hour, it's gone!
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gluten, dairy, soy, rice, yeast and 99% grain-free

Fidissimus · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 1569 Location: Portland, OR.

2. The last time we had leftover cooked stew or other food with meat, chicken or fish, the food was...

a. cooled to room temperature, then put in the refrigerator
b. put in the refrigerator immediately after the food was served
c. left at room temperature overnight or longer

Take the quiz!

2. Answer: Answer B is the best practice; give yourself two points if you picked it.

Hot foods should be refrigerated as soon as possible within two hours after cooking. But don't keep the food if it's been standing out for more than two hours. Don't taste test it, either. Even a small amount of contaminated food can cause illness.

Date leftovers so they can be used within a safe time. Generally, they remain safe when refrigerated for three to five days. If in doubt, throw it out, says FDA microbiologist Kelly Bunning, Ph.D., associate senior science adviser in CFSAN: "It's not worth a foodborne illness for the small amount of food usually involved."
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Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

RD/LD · Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 90

The Edifying Conscience · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 2441

The cheese has been placed in the trash.

Fidd,
I flunked your quiz. I thought the answer was A...cool to room temp.

RDLD,
Your post didn't scare me. I don't have a compromised immune system so I'm not at all concerned with pasteurization.

ostrich · Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 4170 Location: Nebraska

I thought the answer was A as well, especially with things like GF pasta. If I don't cool it a bit it does some funky things in the fridge.
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Fidissimus · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 1569 Location: Portland, OR.

I flunked it the first time I took it too - so no one feel bad! ("A" seems so reasonable! But alas... it's not)....
_________________
Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/