If you’re not heading straight home, you probably do not want to take your leftovers to-go. The temperature of the food needs to stay cold, as in the refrigerator, or remain hot, over 140 degrees F. If not, your meal may be harboring bacteria by the time you eat the rest of it.
The guideline is to toss any leftovers that have been at room temperature for over two hours. If not, potentially deadly pathogens can thrive. Another guideline, according to the FDA, is that leftovers should be consumed in no less than four days.
The Bread Basket
We all know the breadbasket is full of empty calories and carbs which will ruin our appetite. Each slice has at least 100 calories, and then, of course, we slather on the butter. Be patient! Wait for your meal. As another incentive, the breadbasket is also a known communal germ repository.
How many hands have touched those slices as they were being baked, cut, and served? Other hands also have dug around in the slices, too, by the time you pick your slice.
Cheese Needs to be Pasteurized Too
But not all cheese is properly treated. Soft cheeses like brie, queso fresco, and camembert do not use pasteurization. Technically, they do not use pasteurized milk in the process. The risk posed is contamination by harmful bacteria such as Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus.
The CDC warns that cheese that is made with raw milk, as opposed to pasteurized milk, is 50 to 160 times more likely to cause a Listeria outbreak. To be fully pasteurized, milk should be heated to 161 F, for at least fifteen seconds. Alternately, it can be heated to 145 F for at least 30 minutes.
Beware of Kobe Beef Knockoffs
Kobe beef is a select variety of meat that is known for having the highest quality and the best flavor. The distinctive marbling endows it with a buttery, tender texture and superb characteristics. The high cost of this delicacy is also attributed to rare farming, it comes all the way from Japan. Its unique quality leaves it up for imitation. Due to dubious labeling practices, cheaper offerings of Kobe beef might not be legitimate.
In fact, it is very unlikely you will be served actual Kobe beef since the U.S. banned its sale in 2001 after the mad cow outbreak, and never released the ban. It may take a trip to Japan to taste a true Kobe.
Sweet Tea is Sweeter Than You Think
Southern sweet tea is a summer staple, a down-south tradition. Made with black tea, vats of sugar, and served with plenty of ice, it’s easy to drink yourself into a diabetic seizure. Sweet tea delivers 25 grams of sugar per glass. A 23-ounce can of Arizona Tea packs 69 grams of sugar. Tea, itself, can be good for you.
Black tea contains natural antioxidants. But the high sugar content makes it a health risk. Some people order sweet tea as an alternative to soda. The reality is, iced-tea can contain more sugar than a Coke.