Expert: Carl Copeland - 3/22/2008

Question
I left a bag of meat and cheese in car for about 4 1/2 hours it was in the low 50's today but this was between 2:30-6:30 It was a sunny day. I had a pack of Mozzarella cheese one flat iron steak vacuumed sealed and some fully cooked smoked sausage. Should toss all of this. It felt like room temp when I brought in the house. but want to be safe

Answer
Matt,
How are you doing?  The rule is to never leave any food unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours because this fuels bacteria
growth. If this food was in the sun and not at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower I would definitely discard the meat and not take a chance. The cheese is a different story you may be able to salvage that.

For more Food Storage info feel free to visit http://www.Food-Storage-Info.com

Take Care,
Carl