Can I eat it? Red pasta sauce containing canned tuna left out all night

November 19, 2017 2:33 PM

Last night I added some vegetables (broccoli and green peppers) and canned tuna to a jar of commercial pasta sauce, heated the whole lot until the vegetables were thoroughly cooked, ate half, put the remaining half into a loosely covered container about an hour later, and then forgot to put the container into the fridge (grrr!). It was sitting out for about 8 hours in total. Is this safe to eat?
posted by mydonkeybenjamin to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

As someone who is usually in the side of "I would eat it," I would not eat this.

I could potentially rationalize it if my kitchen was 40 degrees the whole 8 hours (which would still be not recommended under safety guidelines).

You're talking a few dollar's worth of ingredients. Don't eat it.
posted by Karaage at 2:41 PM on November 19, 2017 [6 favorites]

Tuna? Heeeellll no.
posted by Aquifer at 2:43 PM on November 19, 2017 [8 favorites]

No!
posted by thelonius at 2:45 PM on November 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

There are at least a couple of spoilage lines I draw at fish.
posted by rhizome at 3:05 PM on November 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

Do not eat.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:06 PM on November 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have done this many times....and each time I ate it without any problems.
posted by ramix at 3:06 PM on November 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

I....would probably eat this. It is salty and acidic, and I'd group it with pizza left out overnight, which I eat without hesitation.
posted by Frowner at 3:08 PM on November 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

I don't know if you should eat it. But I certainly would pack a tuna sandwich into a brown bag at 7:30 a.m. and eat it maybe 6 hours later that afternoon, which isn't very different, so it doesn't seem like a bright line of obvious food poisoning madness to me.
posted by velveeta underground at 3:15 PM on November 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

Safety aside (I vote don't eat), this is probably going to taste hella nasty from sitting out all night.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 3:25 PM on November 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'd totally eat. I totally have eaten it. The tuna was cooked to death in a can. The pasta sauce was cooked then put in a sterile jar. You've cooked all of that again, then covered it.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:26 PM on November 19, 2017 [3 favorites]

Is this safe to eat?

Not by any reasonable definition, no. It started out hot and stayed warm for 8 hours plus however long it took to get under 40 in the fridge, and it's not pickled, dried, pasteurized, or otherwise preserved.
posted by ftm at 3:27 PM on November 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

I’ve eaten this, I would eat yours.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:28 PM on November 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the quick replies, everyone. I'm tempted to eat it, but I really can't afford to get sick at the moment so I guess I will err on the side of caution and throw it out.
posted by mydonkeybenjamin at 3:28 PM on November 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

in general the kind of sick you get from mishandled seafood is unbelievably epic enough that no matter how small the risk appears, it's not worth it.
posted by poffin boffin at 3:53 PM on November 19, 2017 [10 favorites]

I would theorize it's probably fine. Would 100% throw it out though because it's really not a huge loss.
posted by so fucking future at 4:11 PM on November 19, 2017

I've gotten sick on bad seafood pasta and it was the third worst experience of my life. You are not "erring on the side of caution" but very likely avoiding a terrible, terrible thing.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:26 PM on November 19, 2017

Heh, I would totally eat this.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:14 PM on November 20, 2017 [1 favorite]