Everyone deserves a second chance, but what about that leftover tuna melt?
Could that slice of cold pizza be your last?
Stay tuned to find out which leftovers are better left in the past and in the trash.
According to Popeye — renowned sailor and health expert, spinach is a food with multiple
different health benefits.
Spinach is often classified as a superfood because it contains nutrients that are beneficial
to your eyes, bones, hair, skin, and heart.
And, while eating spinach every day won't instantaneously give you gigantic muscles
— though Popeye may show evidence to the contrary, it's a highly nutritious dietary
choice that will nourish your body.
However, you should be careful about reheating spinach in the microwave.
Spinach is high in nitrates and can become toxic when reheated.
Additionally, heating and then reheating this green leafy vegetable could have the unintended
result of oxidizing the iron in spinach, making it dangerous to consume.
Don't hesitate to eat fresh spinach or cooked spinach.
You can even guzzle it out of the can.
Whichever way you choose to consume spinach, just make sure that you're taking the necessary
precautions!
When thawing chicken and handling raw chicken, precautions must be taken due to the possible
presence of salmonella.
If you've ever suffered from salmonella infection, you know the symptoms — which include nausea,
vomiting, chills, fever, and diarrhea — all feel terrible.
"I'm dying."
"I was dying earlier today, and then I died.
Now I'm dead."
And it should be avoided by taking all possible measures.
Undercooking chicken can also lead to salmonella infection, so make sure your chicken is well
done.
Additionally, improperly reheating chicken can also be dangerous.
Cooking does not permanently eliminate bacteria in chicken and it's possible for bacteria
like salmonella to regrow even after cooking.
According to the World Health Organization, microwaves do not always penetrate food with
even levels of heat, which increases the possibility of infection.
Reheating chicken in an oven or on a stovetop and making sure that it reaches an internal
temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit is likely to be one of the safest ways of reheating
chicken.
Oily foods like onion rings and french fries need to be reheated with care as the oil in
these foods can pose a possible risk.
If these oils get too hot during the reheating process, they could produce fumes that contain
toxins.
If you're going to reheat oily foods, the best practice is to put them in the oven at
a low temperature to safely heat them up.
That being said, most fried foods, including even the best fast-food fries and the tastiest
onion rings, are not worth reheating.
The texture becomes overly dry, which affects the flavor and causes the fried items to turn
into a mushy disaster.
Most of the time, you're better off getting a new batch of your favorite fried foods rather
than trying to reheat what you find in your fridge.
Mushrooms are an extremely healthy food: They contain selenium, copper, and magnesium.
Additionally, they lower your chances of developing many kinds of cancer such as breast cancer
and prostate cancer.
They also contain the same amount of potassium as a banana and a notable amount of vitamin
D.
However, you should reconsider eating leftovers that contain mushrooms.
Firstly, the protein in mushrooms can be compromised by the microorganisms present in this food
if they are improperly stored.
Additionally, mushrooms deteriorate quickly since they're a kind of fungi.
For this reason, it's essential to ensure that they are cooked and stored properly.
Ideally, they should be consumed within a week after refrigeration.
"Tomme de chevre de pays!
That would go beautifully with my mushroom!"
If you really must reheat mushrooms, the European Food Information Council recommends warming
them at 158 degrees Fahrenheit.
That being said, there's always a legitimate chance that reheated mushrooms will give you
a stomachache.
When in doubt, toss leftover mushrooms in the trash.
It's just not worth the risk.
Potatoes are very popular in the U.S., as they account for 15% of farm sales.
Many Americans consume potatoes in various forms, from mashed potatoes to scalloped potatoes,
to anything in between.
Be warned, however.
After the meal is done and before the conversations have ended, dishes made from potatoes need
an extra amount of care if you're planning to store them and eat them later on.
While it may be tempting to leave potatoes covered in foil on the counter to save them
for later, doing this can cause the growth of Clostridium botulinum.
This bacteria can cause an illness called botulism which causes weakness and may lead
to difficulty breathing.
Though it may seem counterintuitive, covering the potatoes is what causes the problem, as
Clostridium botulinum needs a low oxygen environment in order to multiply.
The best course of action with potatoes is to store them in the refrigerator without
any foil.
The leftover potatoes should be safe to eat for about four days.
Ideally, eggs should be eaten fresh after preparation, and that includes dishes that
contain eggs such as omelets, casseroles, and quiche.
If you do want to store these foods, they should be refrigerated within two hours.
Just like with raw chicken and leftover chicken, the primary worry with regard to eggs is salmonella.
It is imperative to ensure that cooked and refrigerated eggs are reheated to 165 degrees
Fahrenheit before consumption.
If you're transporting egg salad, deviled eggs, or even totally intact hard-boiled eggs,
be sure to put them in a cooler because the two-hour rule still applies.
If you don't have a cooler and you take something with eggs in it on a picnic, the smartest
thing to do is throw away any leftovers once you get back home.
The food may still taste and look okay but the risk of salmonella illness is simply too
high.
One of the yummiest leftovers of all has to be pizza.
Cold pizza is so delicious that around 53% of Americans prefer leftover pizza to hot
pizza that's fresh out of the oven.
In fact, studies have shown that pizza is a staple food for many Americans, particularly
college students.
However, leftover pizza can be quite dangerous if you don't take precautions.
First of all, to prevent foodborne illness, you shouldn't let pizza sit out on the counter
for longer than two hours.
Instead, put the remaining slices in the refrigerator in an airtight box or in a sealed plastic
bag as soon as possible.
Secondly, pizza tends to be safe for consumption for a few days after refrigeration.
Even if you're a cold pizza fanatic, you should think twice before you gobble up a few slices
of that pizza you ordered from your favorite pizza chain a week ago.
If you happily enjoy cold pizza, you may be tempted to try cold pasta leftovers as well,
particularly if you enjoy pasta salad.
And while it may be tempting to keep leftover pasta on your kitchen counter so that you
can eat it for your next meal, it can be dangerous to do so.
Leftover pasta can literally be deadly.
According to Health, a 20-year-old man in Belgium died after eating leftover pasta.
Closer to home, a college student in the state of Massachusetts contracted food poisoning
and went into septic shock after eating a leftover dish of lo mein and chicken.
If you find leftover pasta in your fridge, and you aren't sure about how long it has
been in there, your best bet is to put it in the garbage.
And, if you're cooking and have made too much pasta, make sure you keep in mind that like
many other foods, leftover pasta needs to be put into your fridge within two hours of
cooking.
Once you begin learning about food safety, you soon realize that there are some serious
hygiene concerns surrounding buffets.
The food sits out for hours at a time.
In addition to that, cross-contamination with other foods and multiple different customers
coming into contact with your food is also a concern.
Many buffet chains don't allow you to take leftovers home.
Buffet restaurants are actually doing you a favor by instituting this rule.
It is not a good idea to take home and reheat leftover buffet food, mostly due to possible
bacterial growth.
Since it's practically impossible to know how long the buffet food was sitting out at
room temperature before it arrived on your plate, you don't know how long you have before
the food must be refrigerated.
Even if you felt fine after eating the buffet food, it doesn't necessarily mean you're in
the clear.
This is because there's a decent chance that the bacteria in the food is already actively
multiplying because it has been sitting at room temperature for extended periods of time.
Rice is a food that's found across countless cuisines.
If you regularly consume rice, you have a lot of company around the globe.
That being said, leftover rice can be quite dangerous.
That's due to the fact that some rice may have Bacillus cereus spores that can survive
even after being cooked.
If rice is left unrefrigerated at room temperature for too long, this could cause the bacteria
to multiply and may lead to food poisoning.
For this reason, it's best to only make enough rice for one meal.
Luckily, cooking rice is easy and quick.
If you have leftover rice in the fridge, it must be consumed within three days and discarded
after four days.
Check for anything strange regarding flavor, smell, or appearance before consuming.
If anything at all is amiss, or you have any doubts about whether or not the rice has gone
bad, toss it out.
Eating leftover seafood is a questionable decision for several different reasons and
can be quite risky.
Reheating foods like fish can lead to a strong smell, and is a quick way to make you the
least popular person at the office.
"Yuck, yuck, yuck!
Wow!
What happened in there?
There is stink in there!
My God!"
Even the most succulent of fish filets can turn into a rubbery, nearly inedible mess
after being reheated.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooked seafood can be safely stored in the
refrigerator for three to four days.
If cooked seafood is stored longer than four days, the possibility of bacterial growth
makes it dangerous to eat.
So your best bet is to just trash it.
Uncooked seafood should be consumed within a few days.
Raw shrimp, raw scallops, fresh mussels, and shucked oysters, in particular, can only last
for one or two days in your fridge.
Additionally, seafood should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours.
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