Paging Paul F. ... I just ate lunchmeat...

[mrbigstuff]

PeterB wrote:
[quote=mrbigstuff]
Yeah four hours would mean everyone who bought a Costco chicken would probably be dead. In the millions!

There's quite a difference there -- Costco chickens are usually pretty well embalmed in salt and spices, and are heated for an extended period of time -- both of which are likely to kill a lot of stuff. Apparently cold cuts are especially prone to bacterial growth, both because of the lower temperature and higher surface area (and lack of large amounts of salt and/or spices).
More or less than typical deli meat? I'd give the edge to the deli meat.

[davester]

Having had food poisoning a few times, I heartily recommend "When in doubt, toss it out!"

[Forrest]

Your recommendation makes no sense. So if you make a sandwich at 7 am, pack it in a plastic bag and paper bag, you could not eat it at noon.

[rgG]

PeterB wrote:
[quote=rgG]
[quote=PeterB]
[quote=mrbigstuff]
Yeah four hours would mean everyone who bought a Costco chicken would probably be dead. In the millions!

There's quite a difference there -- Costco chickens are usually pretty well embalmed in salt and spices, and are heated for an extended period of time -- both of which are likely to kill a lot of stuff. Apparently cold cuts are especially prone to bacterial growth, both because of the lower temperature and higher surface area (and lack of large amounts of salt and/or spices).
May I ask, why did you risk it?
I got an Instacart order/delivery of a lot of it, and didn't know that it had been sitting out at room temp for about four hours. It should have been temperature-controlled, so at least I won't have to pay for it (I will ask for a refund on that portion of my order).

The question now is, should I just toss all of it? (So far, I'm not dead... and it is a lot of meat to be tossing.)
I see. That makes sense.

[Speedy]

Eat with abandon. That turkey has been a lot hotter most of its time on earth.

[srf1957]

Everybody that ever took a lunch in from the 50's to early 80's would be dead . Lunches in metal lunchbox . Coolers with icepacks didn't become standard til the 80's .

[PeterB]

Forrest wrote:
Your recommendation makes no sense. So if you make a sandwich at 7 am, pack it in a plastic bag and paper bag, you could not eat it at noon.

Supposedly that's true ... https://www.stilltasty.com/articles/how-...e-left-out

[gabester]

PeterB wrote:
[quote=Forrest]
Your recommendation makes no sense. So if you make a sandwich at 7 am, pack it in a plastic bag and paper bag, you could not eat it at noon.

Supposedly that's true ... https://www.stilltasty.com/articles/how-...e-left-out
I'd like to see an answer from somewhere other than this still tasty website; because the reality is that millions of children and tens of millions of adults pack a cold cuts / lunchmeat sandwich every day and are all fine.

I'm seeing a consensus from the state of Illinois and a former Subway manager as well as varied other sources of at least 4 hours and up to 6-8 generally ok at "room temperature".

I'd also argue that this is why mustard exists.

[NewtonMP2100]

….toss the salad…..

[JoeH]

Supposedly stilltasty is just passing on USDA guidelines, but those are on the very conservative side. Generally many items can go much longer, 2 or more times as long as those figures, and still be safe to eat.

Now as to this instacart delivery, how do you know that the meats were sitting out at room temperature for 4 hours? The store I have ordered deliveries from that uses instacart has coolers to hold the orders until they are picked up. Even if they had been left out, meats and such are usually picked at the same time and end up bagged together. It takes a while for a bunch of chilled items packed together to warm up. So they would not have been above best keeping temperatures for the entire time. At worst they will not keep as long.