Pizza Out All Night - Still Edible?

We order pizzas in huge quantities for everyone at my job. Sometimes we’ll order 120 pizzas. They sit out all night, sometimes more than 10 hours. I’ve eaten one at the end of my shift or taken them home. Never a problem. Second day pizza is better because all the grease has solidified and become part of the pizza.

I once left a pizza in a metal desk at a car dealership I worked for for over a day, and the temperature in said dealership stays at 80-85 degrees. I then ate the pizza later to no ill effects. I have done things like this consistently over the course of my life and have never gotten sick. Advice: Take “food safety” with a grain of salt and go with your common sense. If it smells bad or tastes spoiled, then it’s spoiled. If not, there’s an overwhelming chance that there is nothing wrong with the food, and 9999/10000 you would be disposing of something good. 2 hours my ass.

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
I once left a pizza in a metal desk at a car dealership I worked for for over a day, and the temperature in said dealership stays at 80-85 degrees. I then ate the pizza later to no ill effects. I have done things like this consistently over the course of my life and have never gotten sick. Advice: Take “food safety” with a grain of salt and go with your common sense. If it smells bad or tastes spoiled, then it’s spoiled. If not, there’s an overwhelming chance that there is nothing wrong with the food, and 9999/10000 you would be disposing of something good. 2 hours my ass.[/quote]

Agreed. “Common sense”. I’ve never had a problem eating left out pizza, even in the midst of nasty hot summer temps.

However, I do subscribe to this rule for food: “When in doubt, throw it out”.

[quote]aeyogi wrote:
Technically the answer is ‘Hell No’, and re-heating it won’t make a difference. I took a food managers course as part of some research I was doing for a project.

Practically, if you are young and hungry and willing to risk a few hours on the toilet, go ahead.

If you can find any way to cram them in the fridge, or the freezer, do so.[/quote]
First of all, as a manager, the cutomers are your liability, so you always have to be safe/smart…I worked at a restuarant and the rule I always heard was 3 hours.

Now, were talking about a waxy frozen pizza with a lot of fat/preservatives in it. If it was a piece of steak I’d say no (but who leaves steak uneaten?) but since its pizza, fuck yeah.

YES, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. I cooked a papa murphys pizza the other day and left it out for 5 hours(it was about 90 degrees), then ate it, didnt even give me the runs or anything, just poped it in the microwave and it was just like normal, tasted pretty good.

[quote]aeyogi wrote:
Technically the answer is ‘Hell No’, and re-heating it won’t make a difference. I took a food managers course as part of some research I was doing for a project.

Practically, if you are young and hungry and willing to risk a few hours on the toilet, go ahead.

If you can find any way to cram them in the fridge, or the freezer, do so.[/quote]

I’m a Food Scientist and my professional opinion is exactly this. ^^^

It’s a numbers game. Most the time you will be fine, every once in a while it will get you.

Oh, and there are some microorganisms that will make you sick even if you nuke it well, it’s their waste product that gets you, and you can’t always tell by looking or smelling or even tasting.