Food safety question: leftover bolognese with pasta

Cooking Discussions
1

As my fellow WFDers will know, my PIC made a fabulous bolognese @Amandarama recently posted. We couldn’t finish it all, bc it was very rich. This was on Friday.

I like to finish my pasta in the sauce, so a few strands of fettuccine are leftover as well.

I wouldn’t hesitate to reheat the meat sauce, but I’m a bit nervous about pasta being in the fridge that long, as that can lead to food poisoning.

I hate hate hate throwing out food — especially when it’s extra-super-duper-delish, so I thought I could just fish out the few pasta strands, heat up that lovely sauce, and just make new fettuccine.

Thoughts? It’s too pretty & happy a day to die :wink:

2

Seems to me that pasta is just flour and water, nothing that seems likely to poison you. Honestly, I would be more worried about the tomatoes but it is only 5 days, if it doesn’t smell “off” I would not give it a second thought.

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3

I would be more concerned about the meat sauce after so many days (much more likely for bacteria growth) - there are enough bacteria even in a fridge which are sometimes even relative heat-resistant (and don’t produce any off-smells) in high-protein and moisture environment. After more than 3-4 days I would toss it

4

There are no tomatoes in the bolognese :slight_smile:

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5

I’ve eaten older meat than that, TBH. A friend was more worried about the pasta.

If I bring the sauce to a boil, shouldn’t it kill any bacteria?

6

There isn’t too much to worry about the pasta

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7

I suppose if there’s any ammonia smell from the container it’s gone. I’ve had fresh Chinese noodles reek of ammonia after just two days in the fridge.

8

No, there are different strains/types of bacteria (and others) which don’t get eliminated when heated

9

I wouldn’t trust meat sauce six days later. Doubt I’d even touch it after three days.

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10

Yeah. Sad face. The ground lamb in it had also been in the freezer for a good long time, and there’s cream in there.

Even if it doesn’t kill us, it may just give us GI issues… and who wants that?

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11

I always am skeptical about weighing in on food safety questions . . . it’s a complicated area, lots of myths, lots of fears . . . if you’re anxious about it, throw it out and forgive yourself for wasting good food.

I’d probably still eat it in my house - knowing how I handled it before I put it in the fridge. But 6-7 days later is pushing my boundary . . .YMMV

That said - left over pasta and rice is definitely a potential source of food poisoning all by itself.

Uncooked rice and pasta can contain spores of the bacterium, Bacillus cereus , which is common and widespread in our environments. Notably, B. cereus can survive even after the food has been properly cooked. If the rice or pasta is left standing at room temperature, like in a pot on the stove, B. cereus spores can quickly multiply and produce a significant amount of toxin. Once refrigerated, the bacteria may go dormant but begin to multiply again when the leftovers are removed and reheated. B. cereus is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the United States.

(just the first google result - if you have preferred sources for food safety you should find the same info).

https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2022/04/are-leftover-rice-and-pasta-bad-for-your-health#:~:text=If%20the%20rice%20or%20pasta,leftovers%20are%20removed%20and%20reheated.

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12

Thank you all for chiming in. Guess we’ll be going out tonight :slight_smile:

13

When in doubt…throw it out. Or risk it? i do some quick calculus and decide…but only you can decide. i think it would be fine….but not my stomach.

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14

It’s four days on. Our health authorities usually advise that three is the maximum safe limit. I wouldnt risk any of it.

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15

Well, 5 actually — if you start counting from Saturday. 6 from the actual day it was made.

Fer shameeeeeeeeee :sob: