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Chicken, cream, mushroom and broccoli casserole left out o/night - toss it?


momee
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Put on counter after dinner (7 or so) to cool, was wrapped and ready to insert in fridge. 

 

Come downstairs this morning and it is still waiting for me to put it away :(

 

It is half a 9 x 13 pan of noodles, cream, stock, mushroom, chicken casserole.

 

(dangit!)

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Oh my, I would not let her eat it.  Things like a GI bug or foodborne illness are particularly tough on older folks.  Dizziness, kidney issues, etc. from electrolyte imbalance.  Please reconsider.

 

Even when you reheat, you don't kill some of the toxins that are produced by the bacteria.  You kill the bacteria, but the toxins are more resistant to heat.

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"Oh my, I would not let her eat it.  Things like a GI bug or foodborne illness are particularly tough on older folks.  "

 

Lol.  Have you tried talking to an 83 year old about food, what is healthy and what is not?  This~ particular 83 year old is quick to remind me she lived through the depression and many many years! food was not properly stored and they all survived.

 

I get what you're saying but she'd rather risk sickness than waste food.  Different mindset than we have today I think.  Interesting...

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I understand.  I worked professionally with two kids who had kidney failure from e.coli.  Foodborne illness in kids and the elderly scares me more than it would in an otherwise healthy non-senior adult.  I would have just dumped it quickly in the trash to avoid her getting to it if necessary.  We have very stubborn parents and a very stubborn 91 yr old grandmother in our lives, so I know how persistent they can be ;)

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I wouldn't let her eat it.

 

I know how disappointing it is to go to the work of making something ahead of time so you won't have to cook the next day, only to accidentally forget to put it in the refrigerator. I did the exact same thing earlier this week, so I'm right there with you. DH said he would eat it, but I said no way. It's not worth the risk of food poisoning, and reheating the food doesn't kill all of the toxins.

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Back when I was a kid in the south, people would just cover the lunch table with a tablecloth and then take it off in the evening and eat the food for dinner.  Fried chicken for lunch sat out all day and then was eaten as cold fried chicken 6 hours later...stuff like that. 

Nobody died, but that's not really what I'm striving for as far as food safety. So yeah, she'll probably be ok, and it's hard to convince older people that it's not good food safety practice to eat perishable food that's been out that long.

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She is still living :)  No problems at all.

 

I realize this game of intestinal roulette isn't for everyone, lol.  I didn't eat any of it and practically smacked it out of a young child's mouth as they were sampling some BUT

Granny is doing just fine, thought someone might be curious.

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

(Now to deal with Granny who is still - always right)

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Food poisoning can sometimes take a few days to show up.

 

It's not as if every piece of food that sat out a long time is going to be inoculated with a bad germ. If not, then it won't make you sick. Problem is, one can't tell which have bad bugs and which don't.

 

It could be if you reheated to a proper internal temperature that the casserole would be fine, but that might be so high that it destroyed the food.

 

Actually, I kind of worry about tuna casserole the way I make it -- putting hot noodles into cold soup and then heating in the oven until it's sort of hot. Seems like the perfect environment for encouraging bacterial growth.

 

I'll eat a lot of questionable stuff, but the op's scenario is not one I'd be comfortable with. So I think she made the right decision in not letting her daughter eat it.

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She is still living :)  No problems at all.

 

I realize this game of intestinal roulette isn't for everyone, lol.  I didn't eat any of it and practically smacked it out of a young child's mouth as they were sampling some BUT

Granny is doing just fine, thought someone might be curious.

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

(Now to deal with Granny who is still - always right)

 

Check in at 7-10 days out. Dh got food poisoning.... 1 week ICU and almost killed him. HUGE hospital bill. So I toss anything old, left out, or when my frig died, close to everything.

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Back when I was a kid in the south, people would just cover the lunch table with a tablecloth and then take it off in the evening and eat the food for dinner.  Fried chicken for lunch sat out all day and then was eaten as cold fried chicken 6 hours later...stuff like that. 

Nobody died, but that's not really what I'm striving for as far as food safety. So yeah, she'll probably be ok, and it's hard to convince older people that it's not good food safety practice to eat perishable food that's been out that long.

 

Lunch to dinner generally isn't anywhere near 12+ hours, though. 

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Lunch to dinner generally isn't anywhere near 12+ hours, though. 

 

 

You're totally right about that- but it was in the deep south in the summertime.  So even a couple of hours in that heat was enough to bring the food to an unsafe level for an unsafe period of time.  ( I'm talking about a house with no AC and/or a family reunion/dinner on the grounds that is held outside. )

 

I'm guessing that a lot of the mild discomforts we got as kids were really mild food poisoning.  

 

Don't get me wrong- I totally would have thrown that casserole out. I was just trying to explain why an 83 year old woman might not- perhaps she grew up with MUCH more lax food handling routines.   

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Food poisoning can sometimes take a few days to show up.

 

It's not as if every piece of food that sat out a long time is going to be inoculated with a bad germ. If not, then it won't make you sick. Problem is, one can't tell which have bad bugs and which don't.

 

It could be if you reheated to a proper internal temperature that the casserole would be fine, but that might be so high that it destroyed the food.

 

Actually, I kind of worry about tuna casserole the way I make it -- putting hot noodles into cold soup and then heating in the oven until it's sort of hot. Seems like the perfect environment for encouraging bacterial growth.

 

I'll eat a lot of questionable stuff, but the op's scenario is not one I'd be comfortable with. So I think she made the right decision in not letting her daughter eat it.

Trouble is bacteria in pasta and rice produce toxins as they multiply. Even if you reheat to kill all bacteria the toxins are still there to make you sick. Reheating protects from some food poisoning not others.

 

I wouldn't risk it with that combination you have dairy, chicken and pasta. Too risky.

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Lol.  She's still fine.  Let me state for the record, I am in no way a proponent of going AGAINST the hive mind on this one, just saying maybe we're all wrong...

 

Same thing with a quiche a few weeks ago. I wanted to let it sit in warm oven a few more minutes to slightly firm up.  I forgot it was in there and we found it next morning.  This was an egg, sausage and pie crust type thing.  I wouldn't touch it, she ate it and had no problems.  She also sticks pizza in the oven to store overnight.  She's a wild woman!

 

Anyway, not to stir stuff up again, just reporting back she's still alive and kicking :)

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Lol.  She's still fine.  Let me state for the record, I am in no way a proponent of going AGAINST the hive mind on this one, just saying maybe we're all wrong...

 

Same thing with a quiche a few weeks ago. I wanted to let it sit in warm oven a few more minutes to slightly firm up.  I forgot it was in there and we found it next morning.  This was an egg, sausage and pie crust type thing.  I wouldn't touch it, she ate it and had no problems.  She also sticks pizza in the oven to store overnight.  She's a wild woman!

 

Guess I'm wild, too, because none of what you describe strikes me as off (no pun intended).  Count me as outside the hive mind. : )

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Guess I'm wild, too, because none of what you describe strikes me as off (no pun intended).  Count me as outside the hive mind. : )

 

I think that knowing your family tends to be super strong and healthy is a sensible reason for pushing the envelope. If you know that family members tend to get very sick when they do fall ill, then that's a sensible reason to play it safe. 

 

I'm usually one saying 'yes, I would eat that!' but the combo of chicken and cream and 12+ hours squicked me out. 

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Trouble is bacteria in pasta and rice produce toxins as they multiply. Even if you reheat to kill all bacteria the toxins are still there to make you sick. Reheating protects from some food poisoning not others.

 

I wouldn't risk it with that combination you have dairy, chicken and pasta. Too risky.

 

Heat does destroy at least some of the toxins.  So cooking the food to a high temperature might make it safe.

 

Or it might not.

 

Botulinum is easily destroyed.  I can't find much info on other possible toxins.

 

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Heat does destroy at least some of the toxins. So cooking the food to a high temperature might make it safe.

 

Or it might not.

 

Botulinum is easily destroyed. I can't find much info on other possible toxins.

 

I was curious so I googled. Bacillus cereus is the problem with pasta left out as it can form heat resistant toxins.

 

I have no idea how common it is I just know that when my sis did a food safety course she said pasta and rice are one of the worst offenders for food poisoning. Partially I think because people don't think of them as a risk.

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