I cooked chicken in the oven today before picking up my son from school and left it out to cool (covered) while I picked him up. By the time I finished cooking the rest of dinner, the chicken had been out for 2 hours. The safety recommendation is past 2 hours, toss it. Normally, I wouldn’t worry about it and I would definitely eat it, but I’m pregnant so I’m being extra cautious AND my toddler and I just had a bout of stomach bug less than a week ago so I really didn’t feel like riding the vomit train again so soon. Anyway, my question is the title. Where does the bacteria come from that causes illness after you eat it? I assume the air but is the air in my home less likely to spoil the food as quickly as say, a restaurant or somewhere outdoors? And lastly, since I’ve put the chicken in the fridge, would reheating it tomorrow kill any of that bacteria?
In: Biology
Yes, some bacterial spores can travel through the air, but also just about anything your food touches has some bacteria on it because basically everything we touch or use has bacteria on it. The utensils you used to cook the food, the container you store it in, the plate or bowl you eat if off of… An errant sneeze or cough can spray bacteria everywhere, as can a loose hair.
The environment could have an effect on the time it takes for food to go bad, but there isn’t going to be any meaningful difference between your home and a restaurant or outdoors.
Lastly, reheating food can kill the bacteria, but a lot of foodborne illnesses are not caused directly from the bacteria but by the bacteria’s waste (basically their poop), which isn’t destroyed by heat. So if you leave food out for too long, reheating it again won’t make it safe to eat because while the heat might kill the bacteria, it won’t do anything about the bacteria’s waste.
Imagine your kitchen as a tiny jungle where invisible tiny creatures, let’s call them “germs,” love to party on food that’s left out. These germs are everywhere – in the air, on surfaces, and sometimes in the food before we even cook it. When we cook food, like your chicken, we scare these germs away because they don’t like the heat. But once the food starts to cool down and sits out, it’s like sending an invitation for the germs to come back and have a dance party.
The safety rule about not leaving food out for more than 2 hours is like saying, “Party over, germs!” That’s because if the food sits out too long, too many germs come back, and they can make you sick if you eat the food later.
Being pregnant means you have to be even more careful about these germs because your body is working super hard to protect not just you but your baby too. And since you and your toddler just got over being sick, it’s like your body’s germ-fighting team is still tired and might not be ready to fight new germs from spoiled food.
The air in your home has germs too, just like anywhere else. It might have fewer germs than a busy restaurant or outdoors because it’s your space and hopefully cleaner. But, the germs that can spoil food don’t really care where they are; if they find food that’s been sitting out, they’ll start their party.
Now, about reheating the chicken: Heat can definitely knock out a lot of germs, but some of them are tough and can leave behind toxins (kind of like their super icky party trash) that won’t go away, even with reheating. So, even if you heat the chicken again, it might not be safe if too many germs had a party in it.
Being extra careful, especially when you’re pregnant, is a good idea. It might be sad to say goodbye to that chicken, but it’s better than risking another ride on the vomit train.
The bacteria were already there, but not in high enough numbers to reach the infectious dose (the number of bacteria required to cause illness). When the food is left out of the fridge, they can multiply and reach infectious dose.
Where does it come from if you cover it ?🤷🏻♀️
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