# I forgot to put cheese in the fridge overnight. Safe to eat or throw out?



## blackpepper

I bought sliced cheese (Havarti semisoft, in case that helps) last night and completely forgot about it until just now (about 15 hours later). It looks OK but I don't know if it's safe to eat??


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## Andy M.

Shouldn't be a problem.


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## jennyema

I agree with Andy

But if it's Sargento make sure it's not part of the listeria recall


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef

Certain products never see refrigeration until they hit the groshree store. Among these items are butter, eggs, and cheese.


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## dragnlaw

No problem.  If there was one you would know (other than a recall as Jennyema mentions). 

'Most' cheese can go mouldy eventually, especially where handled. But you will see that right away, it gets a 'bloom' in white/yellow or grey.  

Overnight on the counter is not anything to worry about. Again, especially if still in its original packaging unopened.  Unopened could possible last for days out and weeks perhaps even months in the fridge.


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## Dawgluver

You'll be fine.  I'd eat it.  As long as it isn't Sargento on the recall list, as jennyema stated.


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## bakechef

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> Certain products never see refrigeration until they hit the groshree store. Among these items are butter, eggs, and cheese.



Not really true.  The warehouses are refrigerated and these products are delivered on refrigerated trucks.  In the summer they would be delivering melted butter...

Grocery stores have a vested interest in keeping food fresh as long as possible, that's why perishables are climate controlled at every stage.


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## Rocklobster

Eat it....


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## caseydog

I'll add to the "eat it" chorus. Cheese left out at room temp should be fine. Left in your car for 15 hours in the sun... I'd ditch that. 

CD


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## tenspeed

Rocklobster said:


> Eat it....


Just eat it

Eat It - "Weird Al" Yankovic - Vevo


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## Cheryl J

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> Certain products never see refrigeration until they hit the groshree store. Among these items are butter, eggs, and cheese.


 
Huh??? Eggs, maybe....and *possibly* some cheeses...but there's no way butter could survive traveling hundreds of miles though the desert, in the summer, unrefrigerated, to reach my 'groshree' store, and still be in blocks.


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## caseydog

Cheryl J said:


> Huh??? Eggs, maybe....and *possibly* some cheeses...but there's no way butter could survive traveling hundreds of miles though the desert, in the summer, unrefrigerated, to reach my 'groshree' store, and still be in blocks.



In much of Europe, eggs are not refrigerated. It is how they are processed, or less processed, that allows them to not be refrigerated. 

Butter in the home doesn't need to be refrigerated as long as it is used in a reasonable amount of time. My grandmother always had butter in a butter dish on the kitchen table. 

I totally agree these things need to be refrigerated for transport, because the inside of a truck can reach some really high temperatures. 

CD


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## Dawgluver

caseydog said:


> In much of Europe, eggs are not refrigerated. It is how they are processed, or less processed, that allows them to not be refrigerated.
> 
> 
> 
> Butter in the home doesn't need to be refrigerated as long as it is used in a reasonable amount of time. My grandmother always had butter in a butter dish on the kitchen table.
> 
> 
> 
> I totally agree these things need to be refrigerated for transport, because the inside of a truck can reach some really high temperatures.
> 
> 
> 
> CD




Si.  In Mexico, they don't refrigerate eggs.  There are huge stacks of them in the middle of the grocery stores.  US gets rid of the protective coating (for some, chicken poop) so we have to refrigerate them here.  Other countries, not so much.


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## Rocklobster

I don't refrigerate my butter. It stays in the cupboard. But, then again, I live up here in the frozen tundra...we get a few weeks in the summer where it becomes a bit too greasy...
And as far as eggs go, I have a fridge, so I gotta keep something in there...


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## GotGarlic

Dawgluver said:


> Si.  In Mexico, they don't refrigerate eggs.  There are huge stacks of them in the middle of the grocery stores.  US gets rid of the protective coating (for some, chicken poop) so we have to refrigerate them here.  Other countries, not so much.


It's not chicken poop that protects fresh eggs but a secretion from the hens with antibiotic properties called the cuticle.


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## Dawgluver

GotGarlic said:


> It's not chicken poop that protects fresh eggs but a secretion from the hens with antibiotic properties called the cuticle.




I was joking, GG. US washes off all the cuticle/chicken poop, so we get to refrigerate our eggs here.

Haven't actually seen much chicken poop on Mexican eggs.  When we first visited Mexico many years ago, we were a bit shocked seeing pallets of unrefrigerated eggs stacked in the middle of the stores.  We're friends with a lot of restaurant owners there, they seem to know what they're doing!  Haven't gotten salmonella yet.

Not sure if the local egg sellers here wash their eggs, but thinking it may be a law.


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## Andy M.

In Aruba supermarkets that cater to American tourists they refrigerate eggs now.  Years ago they did not.  Cartons of eggs were stacked on a pallet on the floor.  Now, even though they have refrigerated eggs, some are still offered at room temperature in a floor display.  

Cuticle or none, you are wise to check the carton you pick up for broken shells.  There are always a good %age that are broken.  Since all Aruba's eggs come from the US, I assume they are the same washed eggs we get at home.

The American Egg Board tells us refrigerated eggs last 7 times longer than room temperature eggs.


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## GotGarlic

Oh. Oops.


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## Dawgluver

Andy M. said:


> In Aruba supermarkets that cater to American tourists they refrigerate eggs now.  Years ago they did not.  Cartons of eggs were stacked on a pallet on the floor.  Now, even though they have refrigerated eggs, some are still offered at room temperature in a floor display.
> 
> Cuticle or none, you are wise to check the carton you pick up for broken shells.  There are always a good %age that are broken.  Since all Aruba's eggs come from the US, I assume they are the same washed eggs we get at home.
> 
> The American Egg Board tells us refrigerated eggs last 7 times longer than room temperature eggs.




Heh.  I see the Mexican locals checking their eggs.  They also rip the tops off their pineapples as they're charged by weight per pineapple on Produce Wednesdays, when the fresh fruits and vegetables come in.  It's comical.  We don't bother hittting the produce aisle on Wednesdays in Cozumel.


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## Cooking Goddess

Rocklobster said:


> ...And as far as eggs go, I have a fridge, so I gotta keep something in there...


Less food=room for more beer.


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## caseydog

Cooking Goddess said:


> Less food=room for more beer.



I like the way you think! 

CD


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## Rocklobster

caseydog said:


> I like the way you think!
> 
> CD


My beer has it's own fridge...


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## dragnlaw

caseydog said:


> I'll add to the "eat it" chorus. Cheese left out at room temp should be fine. Left in your car for 15 hours in the sun... I'd ditch that.
> 
> CD



Aww come on CD, just bring out the crusty bread and have a fondue!


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## Mad Cook

blackpepper said:


> I bought sliced cheese (Havarti semisoft, in case that helps) last night and completely forgot about it until just now (about 15 hours later). It looks OK but I don't know if it's safe to eat??


Of course it is. It's cheese - a way of preserving milk.


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## larry_stewart

When I was a dumb kid, I had a job at the golf course working on the landscape crew during the summers.  One day I brought crackers and a block of smoked gouda for lunch.  I finished most of it, but then I guess the rest fell under the seat ( wrapped up in a ziplock), but forgotten about it.
Fast forward a few weeks later, I forgot my lunch so I was rummaging through the car to see what I had available, and sure enough, there was the smoked gouda ( having spent weeks in a car that sat out in the summer sun day after day).  Being hungry ( and a dumb kid) I unwrapped it, smelled it , seemed  ok, so, thats what I had for lunch that day.
30 years later, Im still alive to talk about it.

There's a moral in that story somewhere, just not sure what it is


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## dragnlaw

LOL Larry - we all have stories like that! 

I am lucky mine wasn't too bad... 
When I was first living on my own back in the 60's, came home very late from work, nothing to really make a meal with, found some dry salami that looked a little green.

I had heard that you could just cut off a big chunk of it and it would be fine.   So I did, it tasted good, went with a morsel of crusty bread, went to bed.

A while later from a sound sleep, I sat straight up in bed, projectiled stomach contents all over the bedspread.  

Wont' do that again!


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## bakechef

We were directed by corporate to build a wine display with a specific cheese that was to be displayed during the day without refrigeration, it was vacuum sealed in the factory.  Our state health inspector showed up and we lost two points because of that cheese.  We showed her the direction from corporate and she wanted nothing to do with it, she wanted confirmation from the manufacturer.  It was freaking hard, aged, vacuum sealed cheese!


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## jd_1138

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> Certain products never see refrigeration until they hit the groshree store. Among these items are butter, eggs, and cheese.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iMjFoT7yWE

I love _Borat_ -- where he goes around acting like a bumpkin from Kazakhstan in America to film a documentary about American life.

This cheese bit always leaves me in stitches.


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## buckytom

Lol, jd. love that bit. The poor store guy is a saint!


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## rodentraiser

I did some shopping on a Thursday and when I took the bags out of my car, I guess the ham had fallen out. I didn't miss it until _Monday_. I debated with myself, but I figured those were the nights when the temps were practically at freezing and the days weren't much warmer. Besides, the car is in a garage where it's always cold anyway.

So I ate part of the ham and I have the rest in the freezer right now. I guess I'll use the rest, too.


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## CraigC

When I had my "French Misconnection" in Marseille. That same bistro offered a cheese course. All of the cheese was served at room temperature and the cheese board would be passed from table to table if ordered. Between tables they would replenish the board.


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## Mad Cook

bakechef said:


> We were directed by corporate to build a wine display with a specific cheese that was to be displayed during the day without refrigeration, it was vacuum sealed in the factory.  Our state health inspector showed up and we lost two points because of that cheese.  We showed her the direction from corporate and she wanted nothing to do with it, she wanted confirmation from the manufacturer.  It was freaking hard, aged, vacuum sealed cheese!


Yes, we have problems with health inspectors over here.

A few years ago they went round the artisan cheese manufacturers telling them they had to replace the traditional slatted wood shelves that the cheeses were matured on with stainless steel shelves.......The cheeses went bad rather quickly!!


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## buckytom

Eating cold cheese is a lot like eating cold chocolate. While it's not bad, it's better at room temp.


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## dragnlaw

buckytom said:


> Eating cold cheese is a lot like eating cold chocolate. While it's not bad, it's better at room temp.



Hmmm!  I disagree to a certain extent on the cold chocolate.  Frozen chocolate on a tea biscuit is divine!  Can't remember the name of them, but for a lonnnnng time we kept a box in the freezer to snack on in the evenings! Yummmm.

But I certainly agree on the cold cheese, that's a no-no... - has to be room temperature - be sure to take it out in advance!


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## bakechef

Mad Cook said:


> Yes, we have problems with health inspectors over here.
> 
> A few years ago they went round the artisan cheese manufacturers telling them they had to replace the traditional slatted wood shelves that the cheeses were matured on with stainless steel shelves.......The cheeses went bad rather quickly!!



I appreciate them trying to keep us safe, but it definitely not a black and white issue, common sense needs to be part of their inspection!


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## Cooking Goddess

Common Sense, *BC*? In a Government Agency? Seriously? I'll walk on the moon first...


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## PrincessFiona60

Cooking Goddess said:


> Common Sense, *BC*? In a Government Agency? Seriously? I'll walk on the moon first...


 
That WAS you I saw when I was out for my lunar (loony) stroll last night.


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## Cooking Goddess

Must have been someone else. I haven't noticed common sense in "gubmint" yet. 

Wait, what. You said you saw me? HOW BIG do you think I am???? Redeem yourself and say you were using a high-powered telescope.


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## PrincessFiona60

Cooking Goddess said:


> Must have been someone else. I haven't noticed common sense in "gubmint" yet.
> 
> Wait, what. You said you saw me? HOW BIG do you think I am???? Redeem yourself and say you were using a high-powered telescope.


 
The both of us, walking on the moon about a crater apart...


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## dragnlaw

Aha! I couldn't clean my lens last night of two little specks moving around on it.  Now I know it was you guys!   Please wave flags next time so I stop trying to scrub you off.


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## Mad Cook

bakechef said:


> I appreciate them trying to keep us safe, but it definitely not a black and white issue, common sense needs to be part of their inspection!


Yes, I agree but the "elf 'n safety police" in the UK don't do common sense. It's by the book or nothing.


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## CraigC

This thread is starting to get a bit cheesy.


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