OMG I left the chicken salad out all night in a 72 degree room. What should I do?

Throw it away, right now.

If you are questioning the freshness of a piece of food, you are probably right. Throw it out.

I, PERSONALLY, would eat it, unless it was a small amount, or I wasn’t crazy about it. Your senses are the best judges. If it tastes or smells funky, then toss it obviously. I know what people say about temperatures and bacteria, but 99% of the time you don’t get sick, and bacteria is good for you, even though everyone thinks the opposite now and is terrified about every germ they encounter.

@Aster : Perhaps @deni would be your official food taster. Don’t touch it. Chicken (and probably mayo…made with eggs…).

I’d toss it. Don’t eat it unless you enjoy vomiting, diarrhea, and pain.

If you don’t toss it right now it’ll toss itself soon…

Smell it. If it smells bad, toss it. If it doesn’t, toss it anyway. You shouldn’t mayonaise that has been left out.

I’m screwed. I stuck my finger in it and licked it. Tasted great.

Don’t risk giving yourself or your family food poisoing. You should not leave leftovers, especially ones with meat or eggs out for more than 2 hours. When the food starts to warm up, that creates an environment for bacteria to grow and replicate, even if it still looks OK and/or smells OK.

You can read about proper handling of food and leftovers in this article from The Mayo Clinic

I’m so bad. I’d eat a little and put the remainder in the fridge. If I was fine in 3 hours I’d figure it is good. I hate wasting food.

Throw it away. Mayonnaise. More than five hours.

@worriedguy so do I. How much would you try? I had 1/8 of a teaspoon half an hour ago .

I’d do a tablespoon. (Please don’t get mad at me. You asked so I’m just telling what I’d do.)

Ask yourself this… Do you want to risk having a really bad case of salmonella?

I have several family members that have compromised immune systems, so I take food safety very seriously.

@worriedguy LOL I can’t’ now I’m too scared.

Also, would you guys be OK if you suspected that restaurants were deciding that sometimes they would just serve food that accidentally got left out, for however long. There’s a reason that restaurants are expected to follow food safety guidelines. I try to use those guidelines too and even go a few steps beyond, just to make sure.

@Aster
Promise you’ll let us know how you make out.

In my world, if the food is the correct color and aroma, it is fine. This rule has not failed me yet. I have lived overseas and have eaten things that most people would not even consider.
Gee,....do you think that’s why my prostate went bad?

@worriedguy Love your replies, always.
I was thinking about all the picnics where potato salad and fried chicken were carried in a basket for an hour’s drive to the destination and no one ever got sick. Have people not done this for decades? I am surprised at your attitude with your being such a picky person and all. LOL !!

@worriedguy don’t know what prostate “went bad” means but all mens’ prostates are enlarged after a certain age and doctors like to rip them out. Then they have dreadful side effects. God knows I’ve heard about this issue for two years now. The cancers in them are usually, but not always, very slow growing.

I look at it this way: For about 5 dollars are you willing to be violently ill?

Seriously- Mayo, chicken, are the WORST for food poisoning. Don’t be cheap at the risk of your health or the health of loved ones. What if only a part of it is bad? You do not know till someone is in serious pain and suffering.

Need $5 that bad? I will send it to you. TOSS IT.

It was $4.35. lol No; I would not be violently ill for less than ten thousand dollars.

I am glad you have a dollar amount assigned to you willingness to give yourself food poisoning. I would certainly throw it out as soon as I got done being mad at myself for a minute. After the minute of staring at it with frustration, I’d throw it in the trash. I’d probably just whip it right into the trash and listen for it to make a sloppy plop sound too. That would be real satisfying. Yeah. Take that chicken salad.

LOL. Good for you, @Aster. Don’t sell yourself cheap. $10,000 is a good opening price to bring to the table, so to speak. :-)

Call the CDC right now. You may have just unwittingly become patient zero and started an incursion of the undead.

@KatawaGrey excuse my ignorance but what??

Out, out, out.

wait, was the chicken salad made with zombie infected chicken meat? Cool.

I have to toss it. I’m too scared now. lol

HA! We saved your life! I am so happy now!

Thank; I’m bummed out about it. lol

Think about the olden days when they didn’t have refrigeration. They weren’t wimps! Go for it. Unless it smells funky. I just got over a 5-month bout of a stomach parasite and it wasn’t that bad. I’d do it again.

How olden? We had an icebox in 1950. LOL

In olden days, you chopped off the head, boiled or roasted and ate the cooked chicken fairly soon thereafter. Left-overs (bones, feet, head, skin) sat in the simmering pot on the wood stove, merrily bubbling.

The eggs (thats what taints mayo) were removed from under the chickens who escaped the pot and eaten quickly.

I did not eat any of the salad..but I’m gonna barf after that story☝
Actually the chicken is probably fine it’s the lettuce that’s a ☣