Some like it hot Basic safety regulations let you have your picnic food and eat it, too. Although it s hard to imagine a picnic, cookout or reunion without basics like potato salad and deviled eggs, warm weather and hours out of refrigeration can make such dishes breeding grounds for harmful bacteria. And hot foods that sit out too long can be equally harmful.
Experts advise following the two hour rule.
That means foods that are left out longer than that might not be safe to eat - hot or cold. You just have to remember that that two hours starts at the time the food leaves the refrigerator and includes the time it takes you to get there - that s all part of the two hours, says Arthena Roper, WVU extension agent. After two hours, bacteria starts having a party when the temperature gets just right. That presence of bacteria is what causes food poisoning. Roper says the safety temperatures are nothing warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit for cold food and nothing cooler than 140 degrees F. for hot food.