Will my lunch be ok?

[Booldawg]

Last night I made a 15 bean stew with the 15 bean soup mix the amercians at work gave me. I also used a polish salami to go with it. I put the remains in a plastic lunch box, came down this morning and realised I'd left it on the side and not in the fridge.

Its in the fridge at work now, but will it be ok to heat and and eat for lunch, bearing in mind its not be refridgerated overnight?

[~owzat~]

Hi Booldawg,

The old saying "When in doubt, chuck out!" springs to mind.

However, being a tough old bird, I would risk eating it myself - cast iron stomach -but some might tell you that with this (hot?) weather a bit dodgy, especially as it consists of beans/pulses [cooking of them is essential].

If you do plan to eat it, make sure it is heated well, but I haven't advised you of this, she said covering her back

[crete]

give it a try and let us know about four hours after you eat it,hope you sit near the toilets

[Booldawg]

ha ha, as if beans arent bad enough without being dodgy. I may have to give it a go, but just dont want the food poisoning to ruin my weekend. I do recall being told something about pulses being a bit dodgy to cook, whu is this and what can it do if you mess up?

[Kim A]

If you don't boil the beans for at least 5-10 minutes BEFORE you fully cook them, you run the risk of aflatoxin poisoning, especially from red (kidney type). Recommended cooking method for most beans is: into pan of cold water, no salt as this toughens skins, bring to boil, skimming off scummy bits and boil hard for 5-10 minutes. Drain, rinse, then put into clean water, bring back to the boil and cook until tender (the pack will give you a rough guide, but cooking times depend on how old the beans are and how the have been stored). This method not only kills off the aflatoxins, but also removes a lot of the fart potential. Tried, tested and effective!

[Kim A]

Oh, and in answer to your question about re-heating your beany feast - I wouldn't, especially as it's been unrefrigerated overnight during this warm weather.

[Booldawg]

thanks for all the sound advice! Its nearly lunchtime and I'm quite hungry and dont have anything else :-(

[samuel23]

try puttin them in the microwave until they're red hot - isn't the microwave energy supposed to kill off most of the bacteria?
oh yeah - and baby wipes are good for soothing burning bums. had a bad case of the runs on holiday last year and the chemist suggested them

[~owzat~]

Hey Booldowg,

Bring it over, I'll eat it for you!!!

Glad Kim typed all the guff about the aflatoxins - I had to go out shopping lol ;o)

"Food, Food Glorious Food"

[whiffey]

General point about food safety again. Presumably the lunchbox was covered, and you would have eaten the stuff if it had been refrigerated.

How did any harmful bugs get into the covered lunchbox ?

Even so, I'd ditch it, why risk anything for a few pence.

[Zeddy]

Whiffey, they don't need to get in!
Some bacteria survive the original cooking process and will then begin to multiply in the right conditions (nice warm weather!)
Some will produce types of toxins that will survive any reheating you might want to try.
These toxins will give you food poisoning.
It is never a good idea to let a product like this sit unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours.

[Booldawg]

Well I ate it to no ill effect, I even let my colleague enjoy a bowl, which I was mildly concerned about at the time.