Expert: Carol Schlitt - 5/29/2006

Question
Are there conditions under which sour cream could be dangerous to a person? Like if it were first at refrigerated temperature, but brought up quickly to maybe 100 degrees or more and then served? I work at Taco Bell and we have an item called the "Crunchwrap Supreme" that contains sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes and some hot ingredients and we put it on a 500 or so degree grill. There was a time when we refused to put sour cream on grilled items for safety's sake, but now we do it frequently enough. Is that dangerous? Or would anything connected with sour cream be dangerous?

Answer
Hi James,

I'm not aware of a safety hazard of heating sour cream -- only that it tends to curdle (ie break down)when added to hot foods.  This is why many recipes recommend adding sour cream at the end of cooking, often after the heat is turned off. While this is not unsafe -- it is ugly and people don't like eating curdled foods.

So, the answer is "No" it is not dangerous. Perhaps the sour cream Taco Bell is using has additional ingredients that keep the sour cream from breaking down at high temperatures.

Carol C. Schlitt
Extension Educator, Nutrition and Wellness
University of Illinois Extension