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

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blackpepper

Assistant Cook
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2
Location
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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??
 
Certain products never see refrigeration until they hit the groshree store. Among these items are butter, eggs, and cheese.
 
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.
 
You'll be fine. I'd eat it. As long as it isn't Sargento on the recall list, as jennyema stated.
 
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.
 
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
 
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. :rolleyes:
 
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. :rolleyes:

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
 
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.
 
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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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.
 
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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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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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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