Reply to tuna salad - room temp for 3 hours

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]http://www.fsis.usda.gov/help/faqs_hotline_preparation/index.asp#6

Is it safe to eat leftover food that was left out on the counter to cool at dinnertime, then forgotten until morning? Will additional cooking kill the bacteria that may have grown?
No. Bacteria exist everywhere in nature. They are in the soil, air, water, and the foods we eat. When they have nutrients (food), moisture, and favorable temperatures, they grow rapidly, increasing in numbers to the point where some types of bacteria can cause illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 and 140 °F, some doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. Some types will produce toxins that are not destroyed by cooking.

Pathogenic bacteria do not generally affect the taste, smell, or appearance of a food. In other words, one cannot tell that a food has been mishandled or is dangerous to eat. For example, food that has been left too long on the counter may be dangerous to eat, but could smell and look fine. If a food has been left in the "Danger Zone" – between 40 and 140 °F – for more than 2 hours, discard it, even though it may look and smell good. Never taste a food to see if it is spoiled.
(Sources: Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency; Fighting BAC!® by Chilling Out; Refrigeration and Food Safety.)

You made the right decision in throwing it out.[/quote]

I disagree. I use the 2 hour rule for something that is open, like food on plates or dishes, exposed to the air.  Something like deli tuna which is in an airtight sealed container is not going to be spawning bacteria out of nothing.  There are not going to be that many bacteria inside the sealed container.  Most bacteria comes from air that is circulating around the food, pushed around by your HVAC system or outside.  Unless the place you purchased the tuna has an excess of bacteria that got into the air that was contained in the container before they sealed it, then there are not that many bacteria spoors to reproduce.  Bacteria do not spontaneously multiple and produce.  They have to have spoors from somewhere.  If you are afraid that the deli counter has so many bacteria spoors in the air that can be captured in the small amount of air at the top of the container before they snap that lid on, you need to shop somewhere else.

A just purchased container that is air sealed should be fine after 3 hours sitting out.  I would not have thrown out that container.  Also anything vacuum packaged is going to be safe.[/quote]

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