Frozen food, left out overnight, then refrozen - safe to eat?!
But then again, it was all sealed, and even though it had pretty much thawed, it'll refreeze, which should kill any bacteria...lol (as I reason in my non-medically-trained mind). Plus then it would be heated in the microwave.
Specifically, I had a couple of those organic cheese tortellini bowls in pesto sauce, and a couple organic bean burritos.
I want to eat them, because otherwise it's just a waste of food. But is it OK, or not?
Answers: I grabbed some stuff I had in the fridge at work last night and brought it home, but I forgot to put it in the freezer, and didn't realize this until this morning. So it was out a good 12 hours. I put it in the freezer at that point, but now I'm pretty sure I don't want to try to eat it.
But then again, it was all sealed, and even though it had pretty much thawed, it'll refreeze, which should kill any bacteria...lol (as I reason in my non-medically-trained mind). Plus then it would be heated in the microwave.
Specifically, I had a couple of those organic cheese tortellini bowls in pesto sauce, and a couple organic bean burritos.
I want to eat them, because otherwise it's just a waste of food. But is it OK, or not?
As a person with a background in bacteriology, I strongly advise you to discard that stuff. If you re-freeze it, any bacteria that were in there will be in a suspended growth situation and when the food is re-thawed then they will rapidly come to life and multiply in rapid succession.
Chalk it up to experience, JonJon. I've done the same thing.
Yeah I would toss it out. I think it spent way to much time without being refrigerated.
Theoretically it is still safe to eat since it remained sealed. However, it will probably taste weird or bad. When the ice crystals thaw and refreeze they mess up the taste of food pretty badly.
I would toss them...is it really worth taking the chance and getting sick?
Nope. You can get botulism. (It grows without oxygen). There are several types of bacteria that can survive freezing as well.
The bean burritos I would think would be okay. I don't know about the tortelline.
My daughter worked in food service, and she says anything left out more than 4 hours is in the danger zone.
Good Luck!
It's okay, the food has been pre-cooked and sealed. As long there isn't any mold or past its date, then you'll be good. I once thawed chicken and left it in water for 2 days, and it was still good, but it's a bit extreme too.
Cook it well done and you should be fine. If you are unsure and not convinced by this answer, then just toss it out and take the loss.
It should be okay--I've done it before...way too many times. Are you a vegan? Vegetarian? Those sound way better than my organic taco salad. Lol. I think you will live and if you somehow die from eating a refrozen food...woopsie, my fault. :)
I would throw it away.
As long as it was thoroughly heated it would still be safe.
Our freezer door was left open all night. We had to throw out everything because it all thawed. So, no.
Chuck it!
freezing does not kill bacteria,, with what you had I would dump it due to high bacteria counts anyway.
To avoid funny tastes, it might be best if you eat it within the next 24 hours. After that, if it tastes funny when you re-heat it, give it to the dog or that annoying friend that always comes over hungry and emty-handed. Buy some Pepto-Bismal just in case.
Good Luck! :)
I never eat frozen food that has been left out and then re-frozen. I would rather eat food that has not yet been frozen, that has been left out, and then frozen.
Ewww no, throw it away. :/
My general rule is, anything that should be refrigerated that is allowed to reach and sit at room temperature for 2 hours or more gets tossed. Anything meant to be frozen that is allowed to thaw and then sit at room temperature for 2 hours gets the same treatment.
of course .............................. NOT that is so gross and sickeneing