Re:
[email protected]
I_am_Tosk wrote:
It's not about how warm it got. It's about how long it was above 40F. A well
sealed fridge running at say 34F with a freezer will hold temp for a
significant time if not opened. That being said, it's certainly possible he
discarded food that could have been kept. However it would have been
important at that point to take any perishable foods being kept and freeze
them, or cook and preserve them in some way. It would also have been
important to take into account the time needed to re-cool the warmed up
food. This is because the time in the danger zone between 40F and 140F is
cumulative, not episodic. There are specific time and temp guidelines for
cooling foods, although within a certain range of time and temp, food can be
reheated to 165F and the cooling process restarted. But regardless, the time
needed to recool a fridge full of warm food to safe levels is indeed
significant.
Plug this into Google or other search engine and you'll find lots of
evidence which backs up what I'm saying: "food storage temperature danger
zone pathogens"
To your comment about looking for anything spoiled, you can't tell whether
food is spoiled, i.e., has been contaminated to an unhealthy degree by
potentially dangersous pathogens, by looking, feeling, or sniffing. You can
only tell whether there has been contamination that changed the food in a
way you find unpleasant. However the stuff you can see feel and smell for
the most part are not caused by the pathogens which can sicken or kill you.
The presence of detectable changes does not mean there are dangerous
pathogens, nor (important) does the lack of detectable changes prove there
are not dangerous pathogens. However, the presence of detectable changes is
a warning that conditions may have been right for the development of the
dangerous stuff.
Much of what you find in the search above will refer to commercial food
handling. There seems to be a belief that in the home, these standards can
be relaxed. However there is no scientific basis for that, just a difference
in the odds of someone getting sick based on less food and fewer people
eating it.
MartyB