Hi, a family member made chicken soup last night in a pressure cooker,
then left it out all night still sealed in the pressure cooker, then
put it in the refrigerator this morning. I assume we shall be heating
it up to eat tonight.

I am quite worried about food borne illness as I am pregnant. Is this
soup safe to eat? Or does the don't leave out food longer than 2 hours
per fda rules apply? The only reason I'm not sure is that someone else
said that a pressure cooker is airtight or something...

please answer asap

don_tspamme wrote:
> Hi, a family member made chicken soup last night in a pressure cooker,
> then left it out all night still sealed in the pressure cooker, then
> put it in the refrigerator this morning. I assume we shall be heating
> it up to eat tonight.
>
> I am quite worried about food borne illness as I am pregnant. Is this
> soup safe to eat? Or does the don't leave out food longer than 2 hours
> per fda rules apply? The only reason I'm not sure is that someone else
> said that a pressure cooker is airtight or something...
>
> please answer asap

If you're really concerned simply reheat in pressure cooker before
breaking seal... but it's still sterile.

Sheldon Autoclave.

don_tspamme wrote:
> Hi, a family member made chicken soup last night in a pressure cooker,
> then left it out all night still sealed in the pressure cooker, then
> put it in the refrigerator this morning. I assume we shall be heating
> it up to eat tonight.
>
> I am quite worried about food borne illness as I am pregnant. Is this
> soup safe to eat? Or does the don't leave out food longer than 2 hours
> per fda rules apply? The only reason I'm not sure is that someone else
> said that a pressure cooker is airtight or something...
>
> please answer asap
>


Boil it for 10 minutes (a good rolling boil) before eating it in the
extremely unlikely event that it has a Clostridium (botulism) infection.

The long pressure cooking would have killed all the other nasties and it
had no opportunity to get recontaminated.

I leave covered pots of hot soup out overnight all the time -- I'm not
pregnant though. The botulism thing I mentioned is really only a
possibility if the pressure cooker drew a pretty tight vacuum when it
cooled. (I don't know your pressure cooker)

Best regards,
Bob

Thanks for your reply Sheldon, but she already took it out of the
pressure cooker and put it in the refrigerator this morning. It sat in
the sealed pressure cooker all night, then she broke the seal and put
it in the refrigerator...so is it safe to reheat and eat?


Sheldon wrote:
> don_tspamme wrote:
> > Hi, a family member made chicken soup last night in a pressure cooker,
> > then left it out all night still sealed in the pressure cooker, then
> > put it in the refrigerator this morning. I assume we shall be heating
> > it up to eat tonight.
> >
> > I am quite worried about food borne illness as I am pregnant. Is this
> > soup safe to eat? Or does the don't leave out food longer than 2 hours
> > per fda rules apply? The only reason I'm not sure is that someone else
> > said that a pressure cooker is airtight or something...
> >
> > please answer asap
>
> If you're really concerned simply reheat in pressure cooker before
> breaking seal... but it's still sterile.
>
> Sheldon Autoclave.

Sheldon wrote:
>
> If you're really concerned simply reheat in pressure cooker
> before breaking seal... but it's still sterile.

No, it's not "still sterile". It lost its sterility
when it cooled down, and air was sucked into the
pressure cooker. Pressure cookers only reliably
contain positive pressure, not negative pressure.

Reheating and pressurizing can sterilize it again,
but it will not destroy bacterial toxins produced
during the time it was sitting around at room temp.

On 2 Oct 2006 18:29:55 -0700, "don_tspamme" >
wrote:

>Hi, a family member made chicken soup last night in a pressure cooker,
>then left it out all night still sealed in the pressure cooker, then
>put it in the refrigerator this morning. I assume we shall be heating
>it up to eat tonight.
>
>I am quite worried about food borne illness as I am pregnant. Is this
>soup safe to eat? Or does the don't leave out food longer than 2 hours
>per fda rules apply? The only reason I'm not sure is that someone else
>said that a pressure cooker is airtight or something...

<makes sign of the cross>

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! "If in doubt, throw it out."

My goodness. I wouldn't take that kind of risk for neither love nor
money much less chicken soup.

TammyM

Mark Thorson wrote:

> Reheating and pressurizing can sterilize it again,
> but it will not destroy bacterial toxins produced
> during the time it was sitting around at room temp.

Well said.

One time on Usenet, "don_tspamme" > said:

> Hi, a family member made chicken soup last night in a pressure cooker,
> then left it out all night still sealed in the pressure cooker, then
> put it in the refrigerator this morning. I assume we shall be heating
> it up to eat tonight.
>
> I am quite worried about food borne illness as I am pregnant. Is this
> soup safe to eat? Or does the don't leave out food longer than 2 hours
> per fda rules apply? The only reason I'm not sure is that someone else
> said that a pressure cooker is airtight or something...

Since you are pregnant, I say don't eat it. As Mark said, you can
kill the bacteria, but not the toxins they may have left behind.
Could be few enough that an adult could tolerate them with just
an upset stomach and/or diarrhea, but I wouldn't expose my unborn
child to it. "When in doubt, throw it out"...

--
"Little Malice" is Jani in WA
~ mom, Trollop, novice cook ~

: Reheating and pressurizing can sterilize it again,
: but it will not destroy bacterial toxins produced
: during the time it was sitting around at room temp.

Heating food for 30 minutes at 176 degrees Fahrenheit (80 degrees Celsius)
will destroy toxins.

http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/f/foodpoisoning.htm