Important question: How long are leftovers good for?

[Parrotheader]

I'm sitting here pondering whether or not my Arby's sandwhich (which I got on Sunday night and immediately put in the fridge for Monday's lunch) is still any good. We went out to lunch for somebody's birthday yesterday so I didn't get to eat it. Now I'm kind of iffy on whether or not it's fair game.

This made me realize there's no "5 second rule" for leftovers. Everybody has their own interpretation and I guess it varies by the type of food. But what do you guys think? How long is too long before you'll toss something out. Personally, I've never been a big fan of leftovers (except for Chinese food and spaghetti.) I'll usually put thngs in my fridge with good intentions and then toss them out a few days later. I'm trying to recycle more though.

Where do you draw the line? And with what types of food? I'm sure pizza will be particularly important since a lot of the college crowd LIVES off that stuff.

 

[Viper GTS]

It should be fine.

Less than 48 hours in a refrigerated environment.

Viper GTS

 

[shifrbv]

I think some of the food safety rules today are a little "nazi-like". Remember, people lived for thousands of years without refrigeration and all the modern conveniences we have today (like air-tight storage containers, etc.) and managed to survive.

Most of my leftovers I have for at least a week. If I don't eat them by the end of that time, out they go. I personally usually leave pizza out overnight and finish it the next day. No problems. Same with leftover meats, rice or potatoes. I just eat it the next day and I've never had a problem. The only area you really need to be careful about is dairy products and cold products made with eggs, try not to leave them out and try to eat them within 48-72 hours after preparation.

 

[themightyplatypus]

Enjoy your sandwich,its fine.

 

[johndoe52]

Eat it. I've eaten older food.

 

[Brutuskend]

If it's green and fuzzy, throw it out. If it smells "funky" throw it out. Other wise eat it, or feed it to the dog.

 

[brxndxn]

Damn.. Pizza keeps like 2 weeks.. That Arby's sandwich should keep for at least a week. I've had sushi two days later and it's just fine. Hamburger Helper lasts 5 days... You can be a lot more lenient than you think.

 

[spidey07]

yeah, generally go by smell/taste.

two - four days is nothing. once you get past that use ye old sniffer.

watch out for any dairy based products, and for gods sake eat the sushi within a day.

 

[Parrotheader]

Actually I was already polishing off the last bite by the time I got a response Tasted fine to me. I just tend to be hesitant because I had a bad experience with food poisoining and leftovers a few years ago. I don't ever want to have to go through that again. Not fun.

However, I beg to differ on pizza keeping for two weeks. That's way way way too long IMO. I usually give it about 2 to 3 days tops since it has cheese (dairy) on it. Of course it's usually all gone by then anyway.

 

[Electric Amish]

Hell yes!

Eat it, you pansy!

You sound like my mother-in-law that throws out a bottle of salad dressing if it's been in the fridge longer than 2-weeks. She is just psycho when it comes to food and contamination.

Unfortunately, her daughter picked it up as well. I just love teasing her with raw hamburger or chicken.

amish