How long can vegetable-based foods be stored at room temperature?
New York City health department forces restaurants to sell prepared food such as babaghanoush on a bed of ice in freezing temperatures. I thought that this was not necessary and I posted a question here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3326872 but someone replied that it was necessary.
Would vegetable based food such as babaghanoush or humus or pasta salad spoil in 3 or 4 hours and become dangerous to eat if sold in room temperature?
Best Answer
This is not an argument you can win. Say your prepared food item is a raw carrot. Clearly carrots are safe at room temperature for weeks and months. They might get rubbery and unpleasant, but they aren't going to make you sick. You can probably even prove this. Now consider a bowl of chicken stock. Rich in both nutrients and water, bacteria are going to love growing in it and even an hour or two at room temperature might be dicy. And between those two things you have items like baba ganoush which, yeah, is probably ok for a few hours. But that's not the point.
Inspectors and rules can't do "spectrum" and they can't do "read the ingredient list" or "read the ingredient list and cooking instructions" (since raw beaten eggs would poison you way faster than a hardboiled egg would.) They need a simple rule that inspectors and vendors alike can understand and enforce. The actual facts of how that particular dish spoils do not and cannot come into it. Customers, vendors, and inspectors need to see at a glance "yes, this place is following the rules" not "well, that might be ok but I'll need to see whether or not they have icing sugar in this version".
It's not about what would be safe at home. It's not about the science of bacteria growth. It's about overall consistency and overall safety. A beautifully-optimized set of rules with 10 or 20 or 50 categories might feel fairer, but would confuse entry-level employees, require tons of signs, labels, written procedures etc, and a vendor would never be completely confident that an inspector wouldn't say "this isnt A-1B dip, it's clearly A-2B dip and I'm writing you up!"
Pictures about "How long can vegetable-based foods be stored at room temperature?"
Quick Answer about "How long can vegetable-based foods be stored at room temperature?"
To keep foods out of the danger zone, refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours. If you're outdoors and temperatures are above 90°F (32°C), you should refrigerate or freeze within 1 hour (7). It's better to store hot foods in smaller, shallower containers that are airtight.How long can vegetables sit at room temperature?
Once cut or peeled, fresh produce should be refrigerated within 2 hours. If it is left at room temperature for more than 2 hours, throw it away. Remember: To prevent foodborne illness, buy good-quality fruits and vegetables, store them properly and wash them thoroughly.How long can you store food at room temperature?
Stick to the "two-hour rule" for leaving items needing refrigeration out at room temperature. Never allow meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, or produce or other foods that require refrigeration to sit at room temperature for more than two hours\u2014one hour if the air temperature is above 90\xb0 F.Which vegetables last the longest unrefrigerated?
Root vegetables are great because they can easily last a week or more without refrigeration. These include potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, kale, beets, radishes and onions. Canned vegetables are always available and will last just about forever. Personally, the only canned vegetables I like are beets.How long can food be left out?
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Teona Swift, Kampus Production, Max Vakhtbovych, Vitaliy Izonin