AboutCarol Schlitt Expertise I can answer questions on home food safety, sanitation, home food preservation and commercial food safety (HACCP).
Experience I am an Extension educator, nutrition, wellness and food safety. I am a certified HACCP manager and a food safety instructor for the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Organizations International Association for Food Protection, American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (Certified CFCS), National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Society for Nutrition Education.
Education/Credentials BS - University of Illinois
MS - Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Question If meat sits out in the dangerzone (which is under 140 if cooked right?) long enough to get bacteria, can you reheat it and kill the bacteria? So the meat is safe to eat? Or is there a time limit when you should just throw it away?
Answer Hi Laura,
While you'd think that simply reheating potentially dangerous food would kill any new bacteria, this isn't exactly what always happens. Some bacteria when given the chance to grow product a toxin, or waste product, that can make you ill. This toxin is not killed by heat so you could become ill even though you reheated the food.
The general rule of thumb is that cooked food that has been at room temperature for over 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90 degrees F) should not be consumed. Until we have definitive tests to know if a food that has been abused by temperature is still safe to eat we will use these guidelines.
