Left a sealed container of Haagen-Dazs out overnight - safe to eat?

January 19, 2025 12:28 PM

Bought a tub of ice cream last night about 10pm and just now (3pm) discovered it in my bag. I’m not concerned about texture or taste, just safety.
posted by brachiopod to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Best answer: Oh no, if the temperature where it was stored was above 40 degrees F (4.4 C) for more than 2 hours then you should toss that. Sorry!
posted by gudrun at 12:48 PM on January 19 [6 favorites]

If it is liquid and room temperature, no (you're dealing with cream, milk and eggs, probably not things you'd want to eat if left out overnight). If it's still partially frozen and cold, then I'd consider it.

Do you have a thermometer? I would measure the temperature near the surface of the container and base my decision on that. Fridge temperature would indicate it is edible, significantly warmer would be too risky for me.
posted by ssg at 12:49 PM on January 19 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ok, thanks. I was hoping (against hope) the seal might have given me some wiggle room. Into the bin it goes.
posted by brachiopod at 12:54 PM on January 19

Just a personal opinion and not really based on scientific study, but the ice cream I buy (pints of Ben & Jerry's, not Haagen Dazs) doesn't have a seal that I would consider worth anything, and I'd assume that the primary aspect of food safety for ice cream comes from it remaining frozen. Specifically, ice cream comes in a coated paper container; B&J's just has a tamper-evident perforated plastic strip around the rim; maybe there's ice cream that comes with a plastic film lid glued to the top of the bucket but even then that's gluing plastic to paper. It's possible that unopened ice cream is somewhat more safe than if it were opened, but it's not like something that's been properly jarred or canned with an airtight seal and packaging material and I wouldn't feel comfortable taking that risk.
posted by LionIndex at 1:15 PM on January 19 [3 favorites]

Haagen Dazs does come with a plastic film that's glued to the top of the bucket. However, that's not enough to make this safe.
posted by litera scripta manet at 5:39 PM on January 19 [1 favorite]

high amounts of fat and sugar slow bacterial growth, and if the ice cream was made at an industrial scale, it was almost certainly made with pasteurized eggs and milk. i’d eat it without hesitation in the winter when my house stays around 67-68, would throw it away in say florida or in the summer
posted by dis_integration at 6:06 AM on January 20 [6 favorites]