Food safety guides
These guides explain the rules that apply to every food, so the food pages can link to them instead of repeating them: how long perishable food may sit out, how freezing, thawing and reheating work, what temperature the fridge should hold and what a best-by date means. Every paragraph in a guide cites the saved USDA, FDA, CDC or extension page it comes from, with the date we checked it. Open a guide for the full text and its sources.
All guides
- The 2-hour ruleHow long perishable food can sit out at room temperature, when the clock starts, and why the limit drops to 1 hour in the heat.
- Fridge and freezer temperatureThe two temperatures every storage time on this site assumes, how to check them, and what to do with food after a power cut.
- Freezing and refreezingWhy freezer times are about quality rather than safety, how to wrap food for the freezer, and which foods do not freeze well.
- Thawing safelyThe three safe ways to thaw frozen food, how long each takes, and why the counter is not one of them.
- Reheating to 165 °FThe temperature leftovers should reach when reheated, how to get there in a microwave or oven, and why slow cookers are not recommended.
- Best-by and use-by datesWhat the dates on food packages mean according to the FDA, and the one kind of food where the date is a safety date.