So maybe you’re a rule follower. You pull a yogurt out of the fridge and notice that the expiration date came and went a week ago. Immediately, you chuck it in the trash and pull out all the other past-due yogurts, muttering about the waste. But, you find a couple in there whose expiration is only yesterday’s date. What do you do now, rule follower? After all, it’s only a day, not SEVEN. And besides, what could happen? The yogurt might have bacteria? Isn’t that the main ingredient of yogurt anyway!

The next day, as you glance over at your co-worker, you can’t help but notice that for the 7 years you’ve worked with this guy, he comes in every morning with a deli sandwich wrapped in plastic and leaves it on his desk the entire day only to chow down at 2 in the afternoon. Are you so repulsed you have to leave the room because you feel pretty certain you’ll create a scene with an all-out gag attack? Or do you sit back and ponder, “After 7 years how come this guy has never gotten sick? Is he a freak or just lucky?”

That night, at home, you pull out a hunk of fancy cheese you paid a pretty penny for and notice a bit of mold on the end. That’s easy. Cut off the moldy part and have your cheese and eat it too. Same scenario, on the weekend, only this cheese is for a dinner party with friends. Are you still so sure you want to saw and gnaw?

Once you start to think about all these food situations there’s no end, because each question just generates another question. But it always goes back to the same one: What do the experts say? With Thanksgiving and the holidays — gulp! — a mere eight-plus weeks away, we consulted three experts. OK, really a self-proclaimed bacteriophobe, a very busy home cook who thus far has been blissfully unaware of expiration dates on canned goods and who has confessed on more than one occasion “I hate cooking,” and an actual food expert.

Here are the questions and how our panel responded:

SJ: Say you brought a sealed yogurt container to work, in a cooler lunchbox with a freezer pack of course, but you didn’t eat it. When you get home that night, would you throw that now room temp yogurt back in the fridge and have it later?

Bacteriophobe: What! Stop right there! I would toss that curdled yogurt so fast it would make your head spin. I’m a firm believer that once something is below the temperature it was right out of the fridge, if it sits out, then it’s no longer edible.

Ding ding ding! The bacteriophobe is on the right track.

Beth Calder, food science specialist for the UMaine Cooperative Extension and our actual food expert: Most dairy food products have a two-hour window where they can be left at room temperature. If it’s left out beyond two hours, you should throw it out.

Too conservative, you’re thinking? When pressed for more details (I still wasn’t convinced there’s anything terribly wrong with re-fridging room temp yogurt), Calder explained that temperature is a key factor when talking about food spoilage, and that there is a temperature “danger zone.”

Food Expert: When perishable foods are left out in the temperature danger zone of 40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, you have an environment that leads to rapid growth of bacteria. Food-borne illness is not pleasant; it can make people very sick and in extreme cases can cause death, especially to high-risk populations such as young children, the elderly and people with very weak immune systems.

OK, we get it. We must amend our evil ways and NOT toss that yogurt back in the fridge even though we’re not dead yet.

SJ: When my husband was a young kid and aspiring biologist, he was known to strongly caution his older siblings that if they ate Mom’s potato salad after it had been out in the sun, they might die. “Yeah, right,” they scoffed and took a giant helping. What do you think? Fact or fiction: You should not eat mayo when used in salads and sandwiches if it’s unrefrigerated?

Household Cook: Fact!

Bacteriophobe adds: Fact! An hour cutoff, and that’s it. Don’t ask me why. An hour is even too much. Be afraid.

SJ: Afraid of what?

Bacteriophobe: You don’t want to know. Just be afraid.

SJ: So, say it’s a friendly BBQ and it’s like temperatures in the 90s, how much time does that mayo salad have?

Food Expert: Mayo is a high-risk food that is sometimes lumped with certain food products that have no more than a two-hour window when left at room temp. When temperatures range in the 80s and 90s, that window shortens to less than an hour.

SJ: All right, let’s talk cold cuts. What do you think of the co-worker who leaves his meat sandwich out for like six hours and then eats it? Do you think that’s OK, or is his stomach freakishly immune to illness?

Food Expert: (laughs) Whoa! He’s one lucky guy, most definitely, that he hasn’t gotten sick. Foods high in protein are high risk. Meats, especially cold cuts, are in that danger zone of 40 to 140 degrees. Deli meats, especially with mayo and/or cheeses on them, are the perfect environment for rapid growth of bacteria that can cause a food-borne illness. Sandwiches cannot be kept at room temp.

Household Cook: He’s taking a chance. One of these days it’ll get him, especially if he has mayo on that sandwich.

Ding ding ding! Bonus for the mayo factor.

Bacteriophobe: That gets a visceral reaction. Deli meat should be eaten instantly after it’s removed from the fridge. There is no window. Open package, let in air, done!

A qualified “ding.”

Our expert says that when perishable foods are exposed to air, there is an increased chance of bacterial growth. Instant contamination, however, is unlikely. Once opened and then properly re-covered, deli meats can last roughly five days in the fridge.

SJ: Moving on to our next question. Sure, that can of beans says it expired last month, but how long can it really go before it’s unsafe or unpalatable to eat?

Bacteriophobe: Instant toss! Expiration date is LAW! I live by expiration date.

Household Cook: I did not know that cans have expiration dates, so I’m quite likely guilty of opening cans of all sorts of things that are ages old.

Food Expert: It’s recommended that you throw away canned goods after the expiration date. Home-processed canned goods are OK for a year. If you accidentally open a canned good and eat it after the expiration date, you probably won’t get sick. But you should also look at the condition of the can. Avoid dented cans because there could be a pin hole of air that could cause bacteria. Bacteria can get under seams. If you see a raised lid or bulges, throw it away. It’s likely spoilage is going on.

SJ: OK, butter. I leave it out, covered in the cupboard, no matter what the temperature (though this summer when temps soared to the 90s and my butter liquefied, I did refrigerate). Others are horrified at the thought — refrigerate or die! What’s your opinion?

Bacteriophobe: Let me just say that I almost considered not marrying my husband because he grew up in a house where they left the butter out. I grew up in a house where refrigerated items stayed vaulted in the fridge. Butter out is never eaten.

Household Cook: If you do not refrigerate you will die!

Food Expert: Although it is low risk, it’s still recommended that you refrigerate butter. Because it is higher in fat and lower in moisture and protein, butter is not going to be a bacterial safety problem if left on the counter, but it should be stored in the refrigerator.

Hah! We will eat our smooth, spreadable, room-temperature butter!

SJ: If you get fresh meat from the butcher, how long can you keep it in the fridge before it should be cooked?

Household Cook: It’s edible if it isn’t turning color and if it passes the whiff test.

Bacteriophobe: Any fresh meat MUST be eaten within three days, or it needs to be tossed. I think I’ve thrown out thousands of pounds of hamburger meat over the years.

Food Expert: You want to cook any meat by the expiration date or put it in the freezer. Raw meat is a perfect environment for bacterial growth. It’s actually a good practice to have a thermometer in the refrigerator to make sure the temperature inside stays below 40 degrees.

SJ: Can you go by whiff alone when deciding if meat is still safe to cook?

Bacteriophobe: I’ve never had smelly meat. It’s tossed well before I’d even consider a whiff test. I don’t belief that nonsense that if it sniffs fine it’s OK to eat.

Food Expert: The whiff test is not a reliable indicator all the time, as some foods may have high numbers of bacteria, yet you can’t see bacteria or smell that the food is spoiled. That is why safe food handling practices and putting perishable foods in the refrigerator or freezer quickly is important. However, if a food appears off-colored, moldy and/or has a bad smell, it would be a good indication that the food is spoiled and needs to be thrown away.

SJ: What about meat that gets that funky brownish color?

Food Expert: The pigment oxymyoglobin, which is present in meat, turns bright red when exposed to oxygen. If you have a packet of hamburger that is brown in the center, it does not necessarily mean that it is spoiled. It just means there is less oxygen present in the center of the hamburger. However, if you leave hamburger in the refrigerator for too long and it turns completely gray or brown, then it may be spoiled and should be thrown away.

SJ: All right, let’s be honest. Tell me you’ve seen a bit of mold on your cheese and you’ve cut off the moldy part and eaten the rest.

Household Cook: Deal breaker! This is an ongoing argument with my husband, who has no problem cutting the mold off cheese. I throw it away when he’s not looking.

SJ: Same with bread? No saw and gnaw for you?

Household Cook: Deal breaker! Mold = trash!

Bacteriophobe: Aaaggghh! No mold on anything — cheese, bread, jelly, refried beans. Never ever! It is insane to saw and gnaw! I’m never coming to your house for dinner again!

SJ: We don’t saw and gnaw for guests!

Food Expert: Molds are made of many cells and grow by hyphae, which are filament-like roots that sometimes cannot be seen by the human eye. So even though only one piece of bread may have a mold spot on it, the entire bag may be contaminated. It is best to throw out the bread. Also, molds sometimes can cause allergic reactions and can sometimes make people sick if they produce a toxin and it is ingested. When in doubt, throw it out.

As for moldy cheese, the experts say it depends.

“Most molds are harmless. Molds are even used to make some kinds of cheese, such as Roquefort, Gorgonzola, brie and Camembert. These molds are safe to eat,” says registered dietitian Katherine Zeratsky of the Mayo Clinic. “But mold on cheese that’s not part of the manufacturing process can also harbor harmful bacteria, such as listeria, brucella, salmonella and E.coli. With hard and semisoft cheese, you can cut away the moldy part and eat the rest of the cheese. Keep the knife out of the mold itself so that it doesn’t cross-contaminate other parts of the cheese. Cut off at least one inch around and below the moldy spot.”

But, Zeratsky cautions that with soft cheeses and any shredded, crumbled or sliced cheeses, the mold cannot be safely removed.

SJ: What about when potatoes sprout or get green spots? Can you cut the sprouts off or cut off the green spots and safely cook up those spuds?

Bacteriophobe: Sprouted? Trashed instantly. If it’s green, it’s gone.

Household Cook: Hmm. Never thought about it.

Food Expert: Potatoes turn green when they are exposed to sunlight. When this happens, there are two things going on. 1.) The potato will produce chlorophyll, which is not toxic, but it produces the green color. 2.) At the same time, the potato will also produce solanine, which is a poisonous glycoalkaloid that does not produce a color. Most of the solanine is produced in the potato skins, so removal of the skins, in theory, will remove most of the solanine; however, it may be best to throw green potatoes away just to be extra cautious. As far as the sprouts go, it’s more of a quality issue than safety. The potatoes might not be as good to eat, but it would be low risk.

SJ: Let’s talk eggs. There’s been so much hullabaloo about eggs lately, yet they seem to last forever. In a lot of countries people don’t even refrigerate their eggs. What are your own rules about eggs?

Household Cook: Expiration date is golden.

Bacteriophobe: Never beyond expiration date. Have I not said Expiration is Law! I used to eat soft-boiled eggs, but after hearing horror stories about runny eggs from a friend who went to culinary school, no more dippy eggs.

Food Expert: Best practice is to refrigerate eggs and follow the expiration date. But if you left eggs out a day, that would be fine. It’s not recommended to leave them out indefinitely. It’s also a good practice to think about hand sanitation, such as washing your hands after cracking an egg.

Bacteriophobe: You’re supposed to wash your hands after cracking an egg? News to me. (This from the woman who nearly didn’t marry her soul mate because he came from a house where they left the butter on the counter!)

SJ: Well, what about raw eggs. In my family we have a cherished recipe for this toffee dessert to die for, but it calls for raw eggs. We only have Tippy’s Toffee on Thanksgiving. When I heard you shouldn’t eat raw eggs, I was torn about what to do because I must have this toffee every Thanksgiving. Have I rightly renamed this family tradition the Salmonella Special?

Food Expert: A lot of older recipes call for raw eggs. But eating soft-boiled and raw eggs is risky. You could use an egg substitute.

We were afraid she was going to say that. Where’s the flavor in that? That got us wondering what the siblings and cousins thought about Tippy’s Toffee. We polled a sampling of our Midwestern family members and were not surprised to report that for those who responded, every single one of them makes it with raw eggs. In fact, the recipe has been handed down to the next generation and to in-laws, extending its insidious ingredient beyond immediate family. Our older sister seemed baffled by the question. “Well, ya have to use raw eggs. That’s what the recipe calls for. What else could I use?” she said.

“You could use an egg substitute.”

“Huh. I never thought about it. Never crossed my mind.”

“Well, would you? Use a substitute?”

“Nah.”

“Me neither.”

So there you have it, advice from the experts for the masses, whether you’ve been extremely careful or extremely lucky. Eat what you love, and love what you eat. But do your research and calculate your risk.

Is it spoiled? Resources

Beth Calder, Ph.D, is an Extension food science specialist at the UMaine Cooperative Extension, serving as outreach liaison to the Maine food industry as well as home-based food businesses. She is part of a statewide Call Team that answers food safety, food preservation and nutrition questions. Contact your local UMaine Cooperative Extension county office by going to http://extension.umaine.edu/county-offices. And go to http://extension.umaine.edu/ for general information and upcoming Extension-sponsored events.

Other helpful websites:

— Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/default.htm

— Maine Center for Disease Control: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/food_safety_in_maine.html

— U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, Food and Nutrition: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome

— Still Tasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide: http://stilltasty.com/

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