Can I eat it: fridge left ajar

December 30, 2016 6:12 PM

My fridge was possibly* left ajar for... who knows. A day? I immediately measured some food with my accurate-to-+/-2F thermometer and it all came out at 37-38F. I come from a VERY food-paranoid family so I have no concept of what is 'normal food safety'. The only things that really 'need' to be refrigerated are a dozen eggs (bought yesterday, sigh), yogurt, cheese, and some leftover stir-fry (vegetarian) + cooked brown rice... Am I good to go?

*A buddy noted it wasn't quite closed but that's right after she used it.

Rest of fridge was cheese, veggies, juices (apple, unopened cranberry), a tart that can be kept at room temperature, various industrial-prepared sauces that say 'refrigerate after opening', butter.

posted by flibbertigibbet to Food & Drink (19 answers total)

Best answer: I would absolutely eat all those things except the yogurt (and maybe the yogurt too) unless one of them looked or smelled weird, assuming I did not have long-standing digestive issues and was not immunocompromised.

Due to my life, I sometimes need to leave non-meat and not milk groceries in cool but not refrigerated temperatures for six to eight hours, and because I am me, I am perfectly happy to pack food for dinner which then sits in a cool but not cold area from breakfast until I eat it. I have a reliable but not extraordinary digestive system and have not gotten sick from this.
posted by Frowner at 6:16 PM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Eat them. I wouldn't have any doubts about eating the yogurt, cheese, stir-fry/rice, and probably the eggs. I've left cheese, milk, and yogurt out overnight and longer without noticeable consequences. The cheese and yogurt in particular are fermented, so there really shouldn't be a problem.
posted by ClaireBear at 6:16 PM on December 30, 2016

Best answer: The FDA says it is important to keep it below 40 degrees. You are fine. Do not panic. Eat some cheese.
posted by charmedimsure at 6:16 PM on December 30, 2016 [12 favorites]

Best answer: And as a point of reference, I have had food poisoning several times from airport and salad bar food (not food of my own preparation), which is not an experience that I ever want to repeat. I still would eat the things in your fridge without hesitation.
posted by ClaireBear at 6:17 PM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Even assuming your thermometer runs 2 degrees cooler than it should, that means that the fridge was at 40F, which is a normal temperature for a fridge (the high end of normal, but still). I wouldn't throw anything you listed out.
posted by sea change at 6:17 PM on December 30, 2016

Best answer: I'd still eat all that stuff, man. Hell, a couple times I have accidentally left cheese, yogurt, and eggs out on the counter overnight and still ate it. I come from a very NOT food-paranoid family, though, and food safety is the one place where I am risk taker. I have never gotten sick from any of this, but of course I can't guarantee that you won't.

Why, yes, I do also eat food off the floor. :)
posted by unannihilated at 6:17 PM on December 30, 2016

Why do you think it was open for a day if someone had just used it?

Those are refrigerator temperatures. It wasn't open for long and you're fine.
posted by cmoj at 6:18 PM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Also, many people who ate a standard US diet lived in places and times during the 20th century where they had cool-rooms but not refrigerators. Those people ate cheese and eggs and lived to tell the tale. Not everyone had a refrigerator or even an icebox until fairly late in the 20th century.
posted by Frowner at 6:18 PM on December 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Your fridge was barely-maybe open for a short time and your food measures at properly cold temperatures. Everything in your fridge is totally fine to eat.
posted by scrubjay at 6:18 PM on December 30, 2016

Response by poster: Why do you think it was open for a day if someone had just used it?

She was having difficulty getting it to close and the problem was something she said she didn't touch (a misaligned crisper drawer).
posted by flibbertigibbet at 6:21 PM on December 30, 2016

Response by poster: Also, thanks. This would probably have been a "completely empty fridge into dumpster" event in my family, so it's nice to know that MeFi thinks I'm fine. I'll happily eat my food.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 6:26 PM on December 30, 2016

Yay! Food waste averted! :-)

Interestingly, in England, in supermarkets, eggs are typically not refrigerated, in my experience. In the grocery store I used to frequent there, the eggs were on the shelf in an aisle, stacked in cartons right next to loaves of bread. I was pretty freaked out at first, but as you can see, many of those eggs later, I emerged alive. But don't try this at home in the USA, kids: there is sort of a curious explanation for this.
posted by ClaireBear at 6:36 PM on December 30, 2016 [9 favorites]

We refrigerate eggs in the US because they are washed prior to being packaged. Washing an egg removes the protective coating that would otherwise obviate the need for refrigeration. Fresh eggs don't actually need to be refrigerated, but washed eggs do.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:00 PM on December 30, 2016 [8 favorites]

I have lived without a refrigerator at times and cheese and yogurt are two dairy products I would still buy because they last for a few days unrefrigerated due to being fermented. I've heard bad things about leftover rice growing scary bacteria though.
posted by lollusc at 7:03 PM on December 30, 2016 [5 favorites]

My partner once opened up and ate a container's worth of year-expired plain yogurt from the back of a friend's fridge.

I stopped worrying about the expiration dates on cultured dairy after that.*

*I wouldn't eat it if it had mold or tasted funny but that hasn't happened yet.
posted by aniola at 7:21 PM on December 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

Everything but the rice is good to go. Even then I would probably eat it. But if you are concerned it would be the one to go.

Not a microbiologist but I am a Food Safety instructor.
posted by csmithrim at 9:17 AM on December 31, 2016 [3 favorites]

I ate some rice a little while ago that I cooked last night and left out all night and all day. I've done it before with no ill effects.
posted by mareli at 5:59 PM on December 31, 2016

Iffy eggs can be placed in a bowl of water immediately before using them to check they're still good. If they sink, they're fine. If they float, toss them.

FWIW, I would eat all those things, but I would sniff the yoghurt first and heat the rice for a bit longer, just to be on the safe side.
posted by the latin mouse at 8:41 AM on January 1, 2017

I would eat everything but the rice. Yogurt with live cultures should be fine.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:46 PM on January 1, 2017