I wonder if this is an US/the rest thing or maybe a meat eater / vegetarian thing. For exact scientific evaluation, please tell in which groups you fit in when commenting.
When the topic food is brought up here or there is always this guy saying "omg you can't leave your food for 30 minutes on the counter because bacteria you know" (exaggerated) and I don't get where that sentiment comes from. Many people agree and say you will get food poisoning from that.
First of all, let me tell you I am not an idiot (at least I hope so) and I know how microbiology works - bacteria is everywhere. I don't doubt your food on the counter will get populated by bacteria, probably more than it would be in the fridge. The question is, is this bad for you?
Now, where I live (central Europe) people are not so fast with that and I wonder why this is. We have a temperate climate which could play a role, so a large portion of the year the temperature is pretty moderate, compared to let's say south US. But apart from that I don't really know.
I am a vegetarian, mostly vegan. I am pretty sure it's not a good idea to leave animal parts out of the fridge, as they are already populated with bad bacteria when you buy them. But for vegetables? Pasta, soup, lasagna? To be honest, I have no shame to leave that stuff on the counter the whole day and even take a spoon from time to time without reheating. Over night I put it of course in the fridge, and in summer when we have 35°C it's also a different thing. But in general I don't really care. I know I cannot extrapolate on humanity, only because ai never felt bad after doing this. But honestly, am I an idiot? Or are you just a bit sensitive? Do you assume everybody eats meats?
Really interested in your ideas. Don't forget to tell the region you are coming from and your diet preferences.
Thank you so much my respected lemmings and pie people
It really depends on the moisture content; like the aforementioned soup. One thing that all organisms need to function is water, and soup is wet.
The vegetables are still alive and their 'immune' systems are still functioning (ish) so they aren't as susceptible to rot as actually dead things are, like meat (which also has a high moisture content).
Cooked food is not sterile; there are types of fungus and bacteria (like the plague!^1^) that create 'cysts' which are impervious to normal cooking temperatures. The only way to kill them is the soak the medium (i.e. your lasagna) in pure ethanol or burn it in a reallllyy hot fire. If you're not in the habit of soaking everything you eat in ethanol or eating charcoal, then they will eventually start multiplying again. They're basically the reason things go bad.
The bread I buy never goes in the fridge because I eat it fast enough that I don't really need to worry about it. Same probably goes with your pasta and other counter food. There is bacteria and fungus growing in it and on it, but it's not enough to really do anything. By the time there would have been a potentially dangerous amount of life inhabiting your counter food, it's already in your small intestine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_cyst
*I live in Canada btw, but most of the places I've lived in have had pretty much the same internal environment. ~21°C and fairly dry. Though I do lose the odd box of spinach if it freezes on the way home. 🫠