Quick replies! would use you use this bacon?

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

Took out a frozen package of organic bacon to thaw last night. Forgot to put it in fridge before bed and it sat out until now (9:30am). It feels warm/room temp and I don’t know how long it’s been thawed. Would you use it??? My instinct says no, especially since our 18 month old would want some too… please help!

malia

 

[Brenda_V]

No, I would not use it either.

Brenda V.

 

[Namid]

It would be in the trash. I went to the grocery store yesterday and was having the family help put up the food. I figures all was up and had 1 bag of suckers and i would put them up later. Late came 5 hrs. later and got the bag to put them up and there was a potpie left.

 

[Feanaro]

**(just using hubby’s login quickly)

didn’t use it… but the dog got a nice breakfast

Malia**

 

[James0235]

I would have probably used it. But, then again, I am a bachelor. And if I took bacon out to thaw then I would have really wanted it and, by golly, I would make sure I got it.

But, you probably did the right thing.

James

 

[LovingHim]

No.

 

[Leopard]

If it started out frozen, was only out for about 12 hours, and was going to be thoroughly fried before eating anyway, I would have eaten it,

-except that you described this as organic bacon.

I don’t know what this means, but if that means it wasn’t maple cured or hickory smoked or any of the other things done to bacon to transform it from a piece of lard with some meat in it to the food of the gods, then I probably wouldn’t eat it under any circumstances.

 

[puzzleannie]

before today I would have said yeah heck use it, thoroughly cooked, but just found out friend is sick because he ate moldy fruit and food (he says he scraped the mold off) now I am off “past the due date” foods. just as DH got off the phone with this friend, found a jar of spag sauce in back of the frig, with that black stuff around the rim, DH said use it, then we looked at each other, and I dumped it.

 

[Revert07]

**(just using hubby’s login quickly)

didn’t use it… but the dog got a nice breakfast

Malia**

You were right not to use it but remember that pets can get food borne illnesses too. Not always since their systems can handle more than ours but every case is different so it’s best to be careful.

I once fed three of our cats something that was a bit suspect. I spent the next several days cleaning their room several times a day because it was coming from both ends. What a mess. The medicine the vet gave was just as bad - it was so bitter, they immediately started foaming at the mouth and looked as if they had rabies. It would have been easier, cleaner, and more economical to have just thrown the stuff out.

 

[SeekerJen]

before today I would have said yeah heck use it, thoroughly cooked, but just found out friend is sick because he ate moldy fruit and food (he says he scraped the mold off) now I am off “past the due date” foods. just as DH got off the phone with this friend, found a jar of spag sauce in back of the frig, with that black stuff around the rim, DH said use it, then we looked at each other, and I dumped it.

Once there’s a visible spot of mold (unless it’s something really solid like a hard cheese in which case it’s okay to scrape off about a cubic inch worth below/around/including the mold and eat the rest), the food is already full of mold spores and is not safe to eat. Think of how soft and porous things like bread and fruit are; if you can see mold, there’s tons more inside that you can’t see. When in doubt, throw it out.

Even things that are supposed to be kept cold but are left out, like the bacon, can still be dangerous if fully cooked. Any bacteria on the bacon would likely be killed by cooking, but since the bugs would have started reproducing at room temp, their metabolic byproducts would build up and those are often toxic (and aren’t always dealt with by cooking).

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

You were right not to use it but remember that pets can get food borne illnesses too. Not always since their systems can handle more than ours but every case is different so it’s best to be careful.

**Thanks,
I should have mentioned that our dog is raw fed so his gut has the stuff needed to deal with the extra bacteria… I would never have given it to a kibble fed pooch!

Malia
**

 

[LilyM]

Once there’s a visible spot of mold (unless it’s something really solid like a hard cheese in which case it’s okay to scrape off about a cubic inch worth below/around/including the mold and eat the rest), the food is already full of mold spores and is not safe to eat. Think of how soft and porous things like bread and fruit are; if you can see mold, there’s tons more inside that you can’t see. When in doubt, throw it out.

Even things that are supposed to be kept cold but are left out, like the bacon, can still be dangerous if fully cooked. Any bacteria on the bacon would likely be killed by cooking, but since the bugs would have started reproducing at room temp, their metabolic byproducts would build up and those are often toxic (and aren’t always dealt with by cooking).

Wow, you and puzzleannie have really put me on my guard now (which isn’t a bad thing). Normally I’ve been pretty careful about removing whatever portions of bread etc are moldy (and gving a wide berth around the moldy bits too) but I didn’t realise it could get so bad.

Things like meat and milk I’d never take a chance with in any event.

 

[nobeerinheaven]

Who buys organic bacon?

 

[SeekerJen]

**Thanks,
I should have mentioned that our dog is raw fed so his gut has the stuff needed to deal with the extra bacteria… I would never have given it to a kibble fed pooch!

Malia
**

See the note about bacterial toxins. If he’s eating raw meat that’s been stored properly, no problem. The levels of toxins produced by large colonies of bacteria living on improperly stored meat could make him quite ill.

Fortunately bacon is usually cured in enough salt that not too much can live on it. The dog will probably be fine.

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

See the note about bacterial toxins. If he’s eating raw meat that’s been stored properly, no problem. The levels of toxins produced by large colonies of bacteria living on improperly stored meat could make him quite ill.

Yeah, I was was wondering about that. But since dogs (and their ancestors) love to eat rotten meat I would assume that they have the ability to deal with this and that use mere humans don’t.

Fortunately bacon is usually cured in enough salt that not too much can live on it. The dog will probably be fine.
**
He’s eaten worse**

**oh, just wanted to make another note about the earlier pet comment…

cats are true carnivores while dogs are omnivorous. Dogs aren’t that picky about what they eat (from fresh meat, to road kill, to garbage, to potato chips, lol) . But cats, on the other hand have very specific nutritional requirements that are best met by a whole freshly killed animal (like a mouse or bird). They need their meat fresh, complete (meaning bones, organs, stomach contents etc) and uncontaminated…

malia**

 

[mrsfrazier]

Took out a frozen package of organic bacon to thaw last night. Forgot to put it in fridge before bed and it sat out until now (9:30am). It feels warm/room temp and I don’t know how long it’s been thawed. Would you use it??? My instinct says no, especially since our 18 month old would want some too… please help!

malia

I would have used it

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

I would have used it

**
would you have fed it to your little one?

I am a little more vigilant than most people I know since I’ve had some immune problems and was just wondering if this was one of the “definitely throw it out” or the “you can throw it out but I wouldn’t”, lol

Since hubby doesn’t worry much about this kind of thing, in the past I probably would have cooked it for him and I wouldn’t have had any. But I just didn’t feel like taking a chance with Lily since I know she would have begged for it, lol

Malia
**

 

[HOPEFUL_IN_UK]

I would have eaten it. For one thing, it was frozen twelve hours earlier. It probably didn’t reach room temperature for several hours.

You didn’t say if it was wrapped in packaging or not, either. If it was, then I would have had no worries.

Pork is salted and smoked into bacon so that it will last longer. It’s full of preservatives (salt, smoke, nitrates, whatever one puts into bacon.) People used to live on bacon when they had no refrigeration.

If there is no foul odor, it’s probably safe. If it’s cooked, it’s probably safe. Cooking would kill anything that could possibly grow in meat.

I would not only have eaten it, I would have given it to my children, no problem.

 

[mrsfrazier]

**
would you have fed it to your little one?

I am a little more vigilant than most people I know since I’ve had some immune problems and was just wondering if this was one of the “definitely throw it out” or the “you can throw it out but I wouldn’t”, lol

Since hubby doesn’t worry much about this kind of thing, in the past I probably would have cooked it for him and I wouldn’t have had any. But I just didn’t feel like taking a chance with Lily since I know she would have begged for it, lol

Malia
**

Yeah, probably not…I would have re-refrigerated it and tried to eat it when DS was sleeping (since he begs for everything, lol. In fact, one time I went so far as to make BLT’s with this bacon we had had forever that had pink slime on it—lifted it towards my mouth–and then decided it would be better not to eat it. I have a stomach of steel but DH is not so lucky

 

[lizaanne]

Heck yeah - I would have eaten it!!

You have to figure that it was frozen when you took it out, it sat on the counter and was probably still cold and even frosty for several hours, and then only became “warm” not that long before you got up. I would see no problem with it.

I made a pork roast last night that thawed in the sink all night - still in its vacuum pack. It was perfectly fine.

Now I would NEVER EVER consider eating something past date that has been opened (past date and never opened, I would still consider) - but that is not the case here. This is just fresh bacon left on the counter.

I think some folks worry too much. But that’s just me.

~Liza