Expert: Carol Schlitt - 10/5/2007

Question
Cooked meatballs (ground meat, 2 eggs) were left at room temperature for 9 hours.  Are they safe to eat?

Answer
Hi Dee,

Nope....

Potentially hazardous foods (meat and eggs) are perfect foods for fostering the growth of harmful bacteria.  Leaving them at room temperature (another perfect environmental growth factor) only encourages any bacteria to grow.  The problem is that some bacteria produce a toxin that is not inactivated by further cooking.  Thus this old adage -- I'll just heat them up and they'll be safe -- isn't always true.

Since you can't taste, see or smell bacteria that can make you ill, our recommendation is to not consume meats left out at room temperature for over 2 hours.

Sorry....

Carol