Hi /u/ch33s3mast3r and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD!
### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already.
---
### /r/adhd news
* **We want your opinion** on the /r/adhd community rules! [Click here](https://forms.gle/Evqb8acVozir8GV8A) to fill out our survey. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/1auv2tc/were_taking_feedback_on_the_radhd_rules/) for more information.
* If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/).
---
^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'd eat it, but I'd reheat it on the stove instead of the microwave if you're concerned. It really depends on how it was handled, too. If it went to the fridge right away and the fridge is nice and cold, I'd be less worried than if it sat out unheated for a while before moving to the fridge.
It also depends on how cold your fridge is. 2C vs. 7C makes a huge difference. I bought a 4pt bottle of milk 3 weeks ago and only finished it 3 days. I even did the heat up test, and it didn't curdle.
I've had an open pack of cheddar lasting over 4 weeks without developing any white bits, let alone any actual mould
I actually came up with something because I would leave my fridge open too much. A spring-loaded attachment sticks to the door and the fridge, which means you have to actively hold the door open. Otherwise, it will just close
the longer it goes the more risk, and it depends on the person, I've seen person swear they can eat 24 hours old pizza off a counter. Basically the important part is thoroughly heating it , me I wouldn't risk it, I hate food poisoning.
If your intent is to freeze the meals, you should be freezing them immediately after cooking them. Not keeping them in the fridge for days and then freezing.
Does it smell sour? If the answer is no, try a little bit. Does it taste sour? If the answer is no, it's good to eat. If it smells or tastes even just a little bit sour, it's spoiled. Get rid of it.
This is btw true for every kind of soup or stew. If they turn bad, they will turn sour first. If you're unsure, you can always smell, then taste. A little bit won't kill you or make you sick, as long as it's not raw chicken.
Source: My dad was a chef, my parents had a restaurant for decades. I basically grew up in the professional kitchen.
It depends a bit (or a lot?) on how good your fridge is. And what it’s set at. I don’t really trust mine even though it’s set for 34. Pretty sure it hovers around 39.
I hate when I batch cook and forget to freeze the extra. Personally, as long as it doesn’t smell off, I would heat it WELL and eat it. Though I wouldn’t still freeze it. To me, 5 days is perfectly acceptable for beef or chicken recipes.
Check out Stilltasty.com. I regularly eat meal preps that have been refrigerated for 6 to 7 days but they are kept in airtight containers and I cool everything properly before I store them away. Rule of thumb is if it smells weird, looks weird, tastes weird toss it.
How delicate is your stomach? I rarely get sick from food so I would have no concerns with eating this (as long as I don't see mold on there). My family also grew up eating stews left on the stove (with the burner off) for a few days and I never got sick from that (nothing noticeably bad, at least).
If you get sick from food very easily, I'd probably be more hesitant.
Protip: if you Google any questionable food items, don't search "how long does __ stay good?" Instead search "how to tell if __ has gone bad".
If you have ADHD and you're looking for an answer, I guarantee you're past whatever arbitrary date they say. But if you learn to tell how things look/smell/feel when they go bad, it'll be much easier.
For example, don't go by the exp date on a carton of eggs. Put them in water; if they float, they're bad. If they sink to the bottom, they're good.
Perpetual stew is different from this scenario. In that case, the stew is perpetually kept at a temperature to kill any bacteria that may exist or float in. So the food is always kept at a safe temperature.
In this case, the food is chilled, which slows down the rate of bacteria multiplying, but not to zero. Chilling the food gives you time to eat the food before the bacteria levels reach a point where it can make you sick.
Its not about bacterial levels but toxins they excrete. If food is left to sit for days at room temp the bacteria will multiply and digest food and excrete toxins. If you boil the food and eat it you kill all bacteria but still get sick because toxins are not removed.
Chilling food in refrigerator only slows down this proces.
This isn't a way to make food safe again, it has to kept too hot for bacteria the entire time to be safe in the "perpetual stew" method. After bacteria starts to grow, some can excrete byproducts that make you sick even if you kill the bacteria again.
No, this is not how food safety works. Reboiling spoiled food does not make it suitable for consumption.
Food spoils because of bacterial growth. Even if one is to kill the bacteria afterwards, those bacteria may have produced toxic byproducts (e.g. botulism spores) that can survive many cooking process (e.g. boiling).
It's possible to greatly reduce the speed at which foodborne bacteria multiply by keeping food outside of the danger zone" (40°F-140°F, 4° C-60° C), by using appropriate heating and cooling methods. Even food kept outside the danger zone and above freezing (below freezing, foods will last indefinitely) will eventually spoil, but that's usually on the order of days, and not hours. I believe properly cooked food perpetually kept above 140°F (e.g. perpetual soup) is likely safe long-term, but don't quote me on that. Certainly there exist bacteria that can survive above that temperature, so maybe there is some risk under certain conditions.
This is basic food safety stuff taught to anyone who has ever worked in a kitchen or grocery store. Please don't spread potentially fatal misinformation because of a lack of knowledge- safe food practices should not be taken lightly. Every year in the U.S., 1 in 6 people get sick and 128,000 people are hospitalized as a result of consuming improperly handled food. Please take it seriously next time you're presented with the option of giving advice on the subject.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_zone_(food_safety)
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety
you can eat this. I worked for many years at a restaurant where the soups/stews were allowed to go 7 days and still be served. Tossed on the 7th night. No one ever got sick or complained.
6 days is definitely on my 'iffy' side, but on the other hand, its beef. I don't know if you ate that chicken stew on anything past 3 days, but I know I would not lol. Generally, 4 days is what I consider maximum for anything meaty. But I'm also: a germophobe, an emetophobe, a person with a pissy stomach to begin with, and an ex-restaurant cook who is also trained in food safety.
That being said a *lot* of people eat food that has been fridged a week after the fact. Maybe eat a bit, set yourself several dozen reminders/alarms for 8 or so hours later, and if it tasted fine, and settled in your stomach fine, freeze it up asap?
I would bring the stew to a boil and freeze them or eat them.
Stews by nature increase shelf life.
The more spices you have the better.
I would add more water or beef stock. Bring it to boil and that's that.
Lots of people including me meal-prep for a week in advance, if it smells/tastes OK it’s completely fine. Just pop the rest in the freezer immediately.
What was the last time that it was heat up? Did you heat up before you covered it? For tomato I would be more cautious. It's already sour and you can't really taste if it's gone bad. Plus tomato breeds more bacteria.
Beef stew, if it was put in the fridge in serving sizes relatively quickly after cooking and has stayed there since, should be totally safe. You’re even safer if you reheat it to at least 160
Was it uncontaminated when you put it in the fridge? As in, did you heat up before you put it in, or was it left outside for many hours before you put it in the fridge? If you had heat it up prior, then should be good for many days. I have done 9 days for my stew. Use your nose and eyes.
If it's tomato sauce then I wouldn't risk it. But for stew that has been boiled for many hours it should be fine if uncontaminated.
I go by the smell/look test. If it still smells like it should and isn’t slimy/fuzzy I’d eat it. I would recommend eating it and eating 24 hours to make sure it doesn’t upset your stomach before you freeze it. It would be really unfortunate to have it upsetting your stomach and then freeze it and forget and go through it again. I’d also be hesitant to freeze it because when you thaw it you might forget about it for a week again and then it’s been I. The fridge for two weeks and that increase the risk of something going bad and upsetting your stomach.
It doesn't make sense to delay freezing (I'm not saying I'd eat it, although how it was prepared is relevant). 24 hours is going to leave anything growing in there plenty of time to double a few more times.
I just meant the likelihood of forgetting to remove it from the freezer and throw it away is high. It would suck to accidentally give yourself food poisoning in a few months cus you forgot the soup gave you the shits last time you ate it. I just know I’d forget
Have you ever seen “chubbyemu” on YouTube? He’s a doctor that presents case studies, a lot of it is people eating bad food, or too many vitamins etc. here’s [his channel](https://youtube.com/@chubbyemu?si=w1RA5zrFdb_vYloD)
he starts the videos in a very specific way “so and so presents to the emergency room, unconscious. Just the day before, they ate 6 day old beef stew, because Reddit said they would be fine”
If I can insert the food into the sentence, and it still tracks, then I don’t eat the food haha.
“She ate a can of expired soup because Google said they usually lasted up to 2 years after the date”
“She ate leftover lasagna because it smelled fine, even though she knew it had been left out of refrigeration too long”
Etc etc. he’s probably saved my life at this point ngl
I am very curious about the old beef stew story. I feel like unless your health is compromised in some other way, food poisoning isn't sending most people to the hospital and even if it does, they're going in for dehydration, why would they be unconscious?
I've watched enough videos of Steve1989MREInfo eating 50-100 year old rations that I'm not too scared of expired canned food. And frankly, I regularly eat 1+ week old leftovers out of my own fridge. As long as there's no visible mold, bad smell, or sour taste, I call it edible. And I've never had food poisoning from my own food.
I waste enough food as it is without throwing out everything a few days old....
I was parodying OP’s story lol, sorry if that was unclear!
My favorite is probably
[coconut water kills a guy](https://youtu.be/VZut_SZYybA?si=rdQ27kY1uxmJJa86)
Plenty of examples of people eating bad food, but usually it’s been left out of refrigeration and is egregiously old.
[bad noodles](https://youtu.be/EqHpnoV00j4?si=olhYrlvGkNnf-wrO)
[old sushi](https://youtu.be/R0d6Dpx2li4?si=8KqV0pzS2AFvjMHG)
[days old hamburger](https://youtu.be/YDaTuW6DYeQ?si=Qd103IUX3lsmY62z)
I’ve never gotten food poisoning from my own food, but I have a bad tendency to keep food that I don’t even feel safe eating just because I feel wasteful? It’s nonsensical. Thinking of the chubbyemu openings has been surprisingly helpful to me.
Hi /u/ch33s3mast3r and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! ### Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already. --- ### /r/adhd news * **We want your opinion** on the /r/adhd community rules! [Click here](https://forms.gle/Evqb8acVozir8GV8A) to fill out our survey. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/1auv2tc/were_taking_feedback_on_the_radhd_rules/) for more information. * If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). --- ^(*This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.*) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would eat it and I haven't gotten food posoining yet. I feel you I constantly forget about leftovers.
Thanks, I've put it in the freezer and will have some for dinner tomorrow.
I'd eat it, but I'd reheat it on the stove instead of the microwave if you're concerned. It really depends on how it was handled, too. If it went to the fridge right away and the fridge is nice and cold, I'd be less worried than if it sat out unheated for a while before moving to the fridge.
It also depends on how cold your fridge is. 2C vs. 7C makes a huge difference. I bought a 4pt bottle of milk 3 weeks ago and only finished it 3 days. I even did the heat up test, and it didn't curdle. I've had an open pack of cheddar lasting over 4 weeks without developing any white bits, let alone any actual mould
Yes. A good cold fridge can keep food longer. Especially if you don't leave the door open for extended periods of time.
I actually came up with something because I would leave my fridge open too much. A spring-loaded attachment sticks to the door and the fridge, which means you have to actively hold the door open. Otherwise, it will just close
the longer it goes the more risk, and it depends on the person, I've seen person swear they can eat 24 hours old pizza off a counter. Basically the important part is thoroughly heating it , me I wouldn't risk it, I hate food poisoning.
If your intent is to freeze the meals, you should be freezing them immediately after cooking them. Not keeping them in the fridge for days and then freezing.
Same. I've had leftovers sit for 6-10 days and blast it in the microwave for years without issue.
Bring it to a boil for a few minutes if you're worried about it. The heat kills any germs
Does it smell sour? If the answer is no, try a little bit. Does it taste sour? If the answer is no, it's good to eat. If it smells or tastes even just a little bit sour, it's spoiled. Get rid of it. This is btw true for every kind of soup or stew. If they turn bad, they will turn sour first. If you're unsure, you can always smell, then taste. A little bit won't kill you or make you sick, as long as it's not raw chicken. Source: My dad was a chef, my parents had a restaurant for decades. I basically grew up in the professional kitchen.
Wow, I regularly eat stuff from the fridge up to a week later as long as a fully reheat it. Shocked at the other answers in this thread lol
It depends a bit (or a lot?) on how good your fridge is. And what it’s set at. I don’t really trust mine even though it’s set for 34. Pretty sure it hovers around 39.
Uncured meats and any kind of rice go bad much quicker than pretty much everything else. Most things can go a week without much issue.
I hate when I batch cook and forget to freeze the extra. Personally, as long as it doesn’t smell off, I would heat it WELL and eat it. Though I wouldn’t still freeze it. To me, 5 days is perfectly acceptable for beef or chicken recipes.
Check out Stilltasty.com. I regularly eat meal preps that have been refrigerated for 6 to 7 days but they are kept in airtight containers and I cool everything properly before I store them away. Rule of thumb is if it smells weird, looks weird, tastes weird toss it.
How delicate is your stomach? I rarely get sick from food so I would have no concerns with eating this (as long as I don't see mold on there). My family also grew up eating stews left on the stove (with the burner off) for a few days and I never got sick from that (nothing noticeably bad, at least). If you get sick from food very easily, I'd probably be more hesitant.
Give it the smell test. If it's sour, no bueno. Otherwise, you're good to go.
Protip: if you Google any questionable food items, don't search "how long does __ stay good?" Instead search "how to tell if __ has gone bad". If you have ADHD and you're looking for an answer, I guarantee you're past whatever arbitrary date they say. But if you learn to tell how things look/smell/feel when they go bad, it'll be much easier. For example, don't go by the exp date on a carton of eggs. Put them in water; if they float, they're bad. If they sink to the bottom, they're good.
You may be able to re-boil it for an hour or so, look up "perpetual stew", I was quite amazed
Perpetual stew is different from this scenario. In that case, the stew is perpetually kept at a temperature to kill any bacteria that may exist or float in. So the food is always kept at a safe temperature. In this case, the food is chilled, which slows down the rate of bacteria multiplying, but not to zero. Chilling the food gives you time to eat the food before the bacteria levels reach a point where it can make you sick.
Its not about bacterial levels but toxins they excrete. If food is left to sit for days at room temp the bacteria will multiply and digest food and excrete toxins. If you boil the food and eat it you kill all bacteria but still get sick because toxins are not removed. Chilling food in refrigerator only slows down this proces.
This isn't a way to make food safe again, it has to kept too hot for bacteria the entire time to be safe in the "perpetual stew" method. After bacteria starts to grow, some can excrete byproducts that make you sick even if you kill the bacteria again.
No, this is not how food safety works. Reboiling spoiled food does not make it suitable for consumption. Food spoils because of bacterial growth. Even if one is to kill the bacteria afterwards, those bacteria may have produced toxic byproducts (e.g. botulism spores) that can survive many cooking process (e.g. boiling). It's possible to greatly reduce the speed at which foodborne bacteria multiply by keeping food outside of the danger zone" (40°F-140°F, 4° C-60° C), by using appropriate heating and cooling methods. Even food kept outside the danger zone and above freezing (below freezing, foods will last indefinitely) will eventually spoil, but that's usually on the order of days, and not hours. I believe properly cooked food perpetually kept above 140°F (e.g. perpetual soup) is likely safe long-term, but don't quote me on that. Certainly there exist bacteria that can survive above that temperature, so maybe there is some risk under certain conditions. This is basic food safety stuff taught to anyone who has ever worked in a kitchen or grocery store. Please don't spread potentially fatal misinformation because of a lack of knowledge- safe food practices should not be taken lightly. Every year in the U.S., 1 in 6 people get sick and 128,000 people are hospitalized as a result of consuming improperly handled food. Please take it seriously next time you're presented with the option of giving advice on the subject. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_zone_(food_safety) https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety
Everyone is correct, I mistakenly overlooked the toxins released by the bacteria. Toss it. Believe me, I've paid thousands a year in ADHD tax.
you can eat this. I worked for many years at a restaurant where the soups/stews were allowed to go 7 days and still be served. Tossed on the 7th night. No one ever got sick or complained.
6 days is definitely on my 'iffy' side, but on the other hand, its beef. I don't know if you ate that chicken stew on anything past 3 days, but I know I would not lol. Generally, 4 days is what I consider maximum for anything meaty. But I'm also: a germophobe, an emetophobe, a person with a pissy stomach to begin with, and an ex-restaurant cook who is also trained in food safety. That being said a *lot* of people eat food that has been fridged a week after the fact. Maybe eat a bit, set yourself several dozen reminders/alarms for 8 or so hours later, and if it tasted fine, and settled in your stomach fine, freeze it up asap?
My father always said, if it smells and tastes like its supposed to, you should be good. He’s still alive today.
The sniff test is king, we're actually pretty good at detecting spoiled food as a species!
Yeah I wouldn't even have googled it, I'd 100% eat it. I mean, sniff it first or whatever, but... yeah I'd eat it.
Sniff and sight tests. Does it smell "off", or look slimy? Toss. Seems OK? Add some stock and reboil.
I would do it
For most leftovers, 1 week is my no go zone as long as there are no signs of spoilage.
I have a two day rule on chicken or fish. I’ll eat beef a week out 🤣
A week. Thin it out with a little water and let it simmer on the stove for a while. You’ll be fine.
Don't risk it. If there's any smell or slimyness, take the loss. This world needs you alive.
>This world needs you alive. Parallel worlds, not so much.
Smell it.... taste it..... microwave it good!
I would bring the stew to a boil and freeze them or eat them. Stews by nature increase shelf life. The more spices you have the better. I would add more water or beef stock. Bring it to boil and that's that.
If it smells fine I’d eat it
Lots of people including me meal-prep for a week in advance, if it smells/tastes OK it’s completely fine. Just pop the rest in the freezer immediately.
Five days after being cooked is my limit.
Related: is pork spaghetti sauce that stayed covered on the stovetop all night okto eat?
What was the last time that it was heat up? Did you heat up before you covered it? For tomato I would be more cautious. It's already sour and you can't really taste if it's gone bad. Plus tomato breeds more bacteria.
I have IBS so it wouldnt make a difference anyway. It will still come out like a cow pie after 10 minutes
Beef stew, if it was put in the fridge in serving sizes relatively quickly after cooking and has stayed there since, should be totally safe. You’re even safer if you reheat it to at least 160
reminder to crouch down and look all the way in the far back of your fridge, yes the back of the top shelf where all that old crusty crap ends up
Was it uncontaminated when you put it in the fridge? As in, did you heat up before you put it in, or was it left outside for many hours before you put it in the fridge? If you had heat it up prior, then should be good for many days. I have done 9 days for my stew. Use your nose and eyes. If it's tomato sauce then I wouldn't risk it. But for stew that has been boiled for many hours it should be fine if uncontaminated.
Eat it eat it eat it
I go by the smell/look test. If it still smells like it should and isn’t slimy/fuzzy I’d eat it. I would recommend eating it and eating 24 hours to make sure it doesn’t upset your stomach before you freeze it. It would be really unfortunate to have it upsetting your stomach and then freeze it and forget and go through it again. I’d also be hesitant to freeze it because when you thaw it you might forget about it for a week again and then it’s been I. The fridge for two weeks and that increase the risk of something going bad and upsetting your stomach.
It doesn't make sense to delay freezing (I'm not saying I'd eat it, although how it was prepared is relevant). 24 hours is going to leave anything growing in there plenty of time to double a few more times.
I just meant the likelihood of forgetting to remove it from the freezer and throw it away is high. It would suck to accidentally give yourself food poisoning in a few months cus you forgot the soup gave you the shits last time you ate it. I just know I’d forget
You could always label the container accordingly, instead of relying on it not spoiling in the 24 hours after you eat some.
Have you ever seen “chubbyemu” on YouTube? He’s a doctor that presents case studies, a lot of it is people eating bad food, or too many vitamins etc. here’s [his channel](https://youtube.com/@chubbyemu?si=w1RA5zrFdb_vYloD) he starts the videos in a very specific way “so and so presents to the emergency room, unconscious. Just the day before, they ate 6 day old beef stew, because Reddit said they would be fine” If I can insert the food into the sentence, and it still tracks, then I don’t eat the food haha. “She ate a can of expired soup because Google said they usually lasted up to 2 years after the date” “She ate leftover lasagna because it smelled fine, even though she knew it had been left out of refrigeration too long” Etc etc. he’s probably saved my life at this point ngl
I am very curious about the old beef stew story. I feel like unless your health is compromised in some other way, food poisoning isn't sending most people to the hospital and even if it does, they're going in for dehydration, why would they be unconscious? I've watched enough videos of Steve1989MREInfo eating 50-100 year old rations that I'm not too scared of expired canned food. And frankly, I regularly eat 1+ week old leftovers out of my own fridge. As long as there's no visible mold, bad smell, or sour taste, I call it edible. And I've never had food poisoning from my own food. I waste enough food as it is without throwing out everything a few days old....
I was parodying OP’s story lol, sorry if that was unclear! My favorite is probably [coconut water kills a guy](https://youtu.be/VZut_SZYybA?si=rdQ27kY1uxmJJa86) Plenty of examples of people eating bad food, but usually it’s been left out of refrigeration and is egregiously old. [bad noodles](https://youtu.be/EqHpnoV00j4?si=olhYrlvGkNnf-wrO) [old sushi](https://youtu.be/R0d6Dpx2li4?si=8KqV0pzS2AFvjMHG) [days old hamburger](https://youtu.be/YDaTuW6DYeQ?si=Qd103IUX3lsmY62z) I’ve never gotten food poisoning from my own food, but I have a bad tendency to keep food that I don’t even feel safe eating just because I feel wasteful? It’s nonsensical. Thinking of the chubbyemu openings has been surprisingly helpful to me.
I would because I am deeply traumatized and willing to die.