How long after you have left a dairy product out of the fridge should you throw it out?!
How long after you have left a dairy product out of the fridge should you throw it out?
Answers: WEll if you are wondering how long before it will make you sick, then dont worry if you have left it out for less than two hours. My kids are bad at leaving milk out and have never been sick from it. If you drink or eat directly from the container each time it would be different though as more bacteria can harbor and multiply while it gets warm. Think about pot lucks and how long these foods are left out. Do you see people getting sick often? I dont. I wouldnt worry too much unless its something that has visably changed in appearance, texture or temperature. If it is warm to the touch, toss it! milk or yogurt, I wouldnt touch after more than an hour or two... cheese probably a half a day If it's still cool it might be ok. When things get to room temp bacteria starts to breed. Try smelling it. Actually, I once left some yogurt out overnight! Uncovered! And then I ate it in the morning! Gross, I know. But I didn't get sick and it didn't bother me at all. I mean, they use bacteria to make yogurt, anyway; it's just controlled spoilage. Same with cheese. Although, honestly, I would toss something I left out over 24 hours; cheese, even earlier; especially if it's real mozzarella, that stuff grows mold like no tomorrow if you're not careful with it. It depends on the dairy product. If it's cheese or butter you may still have a lot of life left in it after a few hours or even a few days depending on which it is. However if it's milk, most people may not have noticed that they began ultra pasteurizing milk about ten years ago, which means the milk will stay fresh 3- 4 times longer than milk did when I was a kid. So if it's been out of the fridge for 4 hours or so there is no need to be alarmed.
I don't know if anyone has noticed that this stuff doesn't clump up the way milk did when I was younger.