According to Dr. Kantha Shelke, a food safety expert at Corvus Blue LLC, “Eggs almost always contain salmonella.” Why is this important? Because when eaten quickly, those “undercooked eggs” (yes, think runny yolks) allow people to eat and enjoy eggs while ingesting the small amounts of salmonella, hopefully not enough to make you sick. But when left out for even a brief time at room temperature, those innocuous eggs can become dangerous. Salmonella bacteria spreads rapidly at room temperature.
Eggs aren’t the only food that become dangerous, quickly. Potatoes and rice are notorious for carrying pathogens when eaten as leftovers. Reheating usually only bring the internal temperature up to satisfy the taste buds, but not enough kill whatever pathogens have been growing. When reusing rice or potatoes, think fried rice (cooled to a solid 165 degrees in a frypan, with accoutrements, of course, to make a second-hand savory, and safe, meal. For potatoes, think scalloped potatoes or potato’s au Gratin. In this way, left over potatoes ca become an excellent, safe dish – cooked sufficiently well to kill bacteria.
Other foods that are not amenable to reuse include cooked beets and spinach, but not for the same reason. These often are high in nitrates that can convert to carcinogenic nitrosamines.
As one national food poisoning lawyer stated, “food is best when kept at under 4 degrees Celsius and oven 60 degrees Celsius (in Fahrenheit, that would be under 41 and above 140).”
