Why can you still get sick when you eat cooked meat that has been unchilled for too long?

Question

The same goes for other types of foods like eggs.

If cooking food kills the bacteria why does it matter if you leave the food out for too long?

Im not talking about things like completely rotten meat, but my concept of cooking is that basically 99% of the bacteria in food is killed if you cook it to be “well-done”.

So if the bacteria is dead, then why can you still contract foodborne illnesses from it?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Some bacteria poop poison. Cooking kills them, but doesn’t do anything to the poison already there. If they’ve been in your food alive & pooping for too long, then the poison alone can make you sick.