“leaving it to cool on the counter is a bad idea”

The potato omelet that didn’t fit in the refrigerator; the tupperware of rice that we left to warm up and spent the entire afternoon on the counter; the platter full of barbecue things that was on the table throughout the meal. Spain has a problem with storing food properly in the refrigerator and summer increases it exponentially.

And that’s why, in recent days, the idea has been circulating on the internet that a simple rule can solve everything: “put away cooked food within two hours,” they tell us. But the problem is not that: the problem has never been in ‘if’ you cool it, but in ‘how’ you do it.

The two hour rule. Let’s start here: this rule is basically the international consensus of the WHO, the FDA, the EFSA and the AESAN for decades. That is, there is no new study, report, or regulatory change that motivates the ‘revival’ of the rule. What there is is heat.

And that’s important: because when the environment exceeds 30-32 °C, the safe window is reduces by half. And at that time, of course, we have to consider that vacations broaden exposure to “danger zone” for that mixture of ‘preparing food in advance’ and transporting it in ‘tuppers’.

The data is clear: in 2023, Spain notified 818 foodborne outbreakswith 10,125 cases, 414 hospitalizations and 13 deaths. Between 2018 and 2022, we accumulate 27,637 cases. between the 31% occur at home and, as we will see, inadequate refrigeration is the first contributing factor.

Because? This is why I say: poor refrigeration, food prepared too early and cooled slowly. In other words, the problem is “letting things cool down”: to the extent that the “danger zone” is between 4 and 60 degrees; The sooner you get the food below 4, the better.

“But hey, just reheating it is enough, right?” It is true that reheating well helps, it works against vegetative cells; not against toxins already formed that withstand the heat. The case of rice is well known: he Bacillus cereus It disappears with heat, but its spores survive cooking and, at room temperature, produce a toxin that is very difficult to eliminate.

And what do we do? What they say the OCU and the CDC It’s simple: divide into shallow containers and refrigerate while hot, “as soon as it stops burning.” And, above all, have common sense.

Image | Kevin Wang

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