Seen on NPR’s Instagram account.
Something about this seems wrong to me, but I don’t know for sure because management won’t pay for my ServSafe. Doesn’t reheating the same food over and over again make it less safe, as it spends more time in the danger zone?
Looking for input from all you fine folks this morning.
by banana_trupa
30 Comments
This is so dumb and yes definitely unsafe
Meh – it’s going from cold to hot. I wouldn’t do it in a restaurant, but yeah I’ll reheat some things a 2nd time. It definitely does not reset the clock on it being garbage at end of 3rd day from when it was originally cooked though. And lasagna etc will get dried out. I warmed up carne asada three days in a row last week and my kids loved it every day.
What makes spoiled food dangerous isn’t necessarily the bacteria, it’s the toxins they produce. Every time you heat up leftovers, the bacteria will produce toxins while it’s in the “danger zone” and even though you kill the bacteria the next time you reheat the toxins will build up over time and may cause food poisoning. Sure you can reheat leftovers multiple times with little risk but you can’t do it forever and expect never to get sick.
The clock doesn’t get reset, as other commenters have said. That’s not how bacteria works. They mainly stop growing in the cold and some of them die in the heat, but all the time they’re in that middle range (the “danger zone”), they multiply, so the more times the food gets cooled down or warmed up, obviously the bigger risk. Different people have different risk tolerances and I’m in the UK so assume we have slightly different legal obligations, so I can’t speak to Servsafe.
Lol this is SO wrong.
No, you cannot just continue to indefinitely reheat food. Throw that shit out, no matter the reheat #, after 3-5 days (foods vary but within this range). At maximum 7 days but youre playing in bubble guts territory after 5, so up to you how much risk you want.
I just… can you link the IG? I am 95% sure this is rage bait but if it isnt it needs to be reported ASAP. 😅
Or, food saver and the freezer? Just an idea….
If you haven’t already, this would be a great one to cross post in r/FoodScience.
Bobby Flay was beat by tuna casserole.
This is terrible advice. Don’t reheat an entire casserole if you’re not going to eat the whole thing. Just reheat the portion you are going to eat. Keep the rest of it cold. It’s not rocket surgery. My personal guideline is I’ll reheat food that’s up to 7 days old (for food that I cooked, cooled, and am reheating a portion of for my personal consumption), and then it’s compost.
Safety aside…it is a tuna casserole (ugh). I honestly do no understand why there are some things only eaten at thanksgiving if they are so good, and I think the reason is that they are really not.
When my son moved out and got his first apartment, he called me with this question. I explained it like this:
Yes, technically, you’ll be reheating the food to the point that you’ll kill most of the bad bacteria that’s had a chance to grow. You know what you can’t kill, though? The poop from that bacteria, and that’s what can make you sick.
Pitch it after 5 days, and don’t let it stay in the food safety danger zone. That’s the general rule around here for a reason.
Edited for clarification.
Just take out the portion that you need, don’t reheat the whole fucking thing unless you eat it in one go
We trying to get some people killed by Thanksgiving leftovers? Who the hell posted this?
Just cut out what youre going to eat and only reheat that part of it…
What they posted is just straight up stupid, unless you’re trying to ruin your leftovers
Former foodborne epidemiologist, as others have said it doesn’t kill the bacteria or reset the window for safety & spoilage. About 10 years ago, my CDC colleagues and other experts would say don’t consume most things after 3-4 days and we also stressed that freezing & thawing did not reset that window but slowed bacterial & toxin proliferation.
I went over to the NPR IG to comment, but comments are limited now.
Food Scientist stepping in. THIS IS WRONG PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. It has been said already, but it’s about the toxins and heat-resistant bacteria. Botulism is not something to be taken lightly.
AHAHAHAHAHA WHAT THE FUCK
Either keep it chilled or keep it on heat.
Better way to reheat and eat leftovers is to take out a portion of the leftovers and heat what you’re going to eat.
To add to what others have said rice and pasta are especially dangerous with how porous and starchy they are. Bacteria populations thrive on both which means more waste
Damn son.
I’m usually very lax on food safety stuff and think that people are way too worried about reheating/storing food, but this is insanity lmao.
It basically assumes the only part of food safety that matters is live organisms, but the waste they leave behind is just as important. That’s why cooking spoiled meat doesn’t make it magically safe to eat.
I could neverrrrrrrrr. I hate leftovers
This is what my mother believes…She’ll reheat things to “hold” them.
I think I just got food poisoning thinking about this. They’re also forgetting that the food will be a little worse tasting and looking eat time.
Infinite tuna casserole sounds like excellent flair
What the fuck. This is full of misinfo. Also, why the FUCK would you heat up the entire dish every time you want to eat leftover. Take out the portion you’re going to eat and heat only THAT. The clock doesn’t reset each time you reheat food, that’s absolutely insane, keeping it in the fridge is the best way to keep it safe.
Lots of people are going to read that and just believe it…
Someone at NPR is about to get fired in like 2 weeks when someone dies from this lmao
This is from a series posted last year, the other comics seem to line up with the traditional guidelines.
“Bumpus” surely seems to have some impressive credentials and some infectious bacteria background not listed in the Wikipedia. Does she know something we don’t? Or did the cartoonist misquote her or something?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namandj%C3%A9_Bumpus
totally wrong. idk if the whole “says bumpus” thing is supposed to be a joke. like “of course i know how to do math” says twitmungus
This is insanity.
And, I’ve been servesafe certified more than once.
I want to see how the fucker that wrote this cuts a chive.
The toxins, which are a by-product of bacteria, cannot be removed by heat. Every time you reheat and cool food, especially in the small fridge you have at home, that food spends time in the danger zone which will encourage bacteria growth and toxins as a byproduct.
It’s not the same as a perpetual stew which is always above the danger zone. Just freeze the casserole, geez.
I worked for a major US legacy department store for years. For black Friday we were open for 24 hours straight, and at my location they literally locked the employees in all night. They would provide us with big lasagnas for our staff meal, and the managers absolutely believed that putting a stoffers lasagna out at 5 pm Friday night, left on the counter, if you microwaved it at 10 am Saturday it was perfectly safe.
I was suspended every year for hucking them into the trash, and got to skip the Saturday and Sunday madness 😎 and my disciplinary points expired after a year so I could just keep repeat offending