All these people saying that they did this or that and were fine...
A few counter-examples:
My dad is from Australia and born in the 1930s. His family had no refrigeration, though "British style" cooking was the norm at the time. That refers to not just what was cooked, but the fact that dishes were often cooked one day and the remainders eaten later.
He had a younger sister who died from food poisoning when she was 4.
My mother was also born in Australia in the 1930s. She's told me how they used to bring lunch boxes to school with cooked food in, and lay the boxes above the heater in the classroom to stay warm until lunchtime. She also told me that "upset tummies" were far more common then than now, and is convinced that poor food hygiene was the cause.
I've twice had major food poisoning due to poor handling of food . Once in China, once at a relative's home in India. Because of the two cases, which were both within the same year, I ended up ten kilos underweight. It took me about three years to get back up to my normal weight. Given that I have other health issues, I'm glad that I got off so lightly.
On top of that, my husband had to take immunosuppressants for a long time. We visited relatives in America who, unbeknownst to him, happily left food out at room temperature, then kept serving it to us all. This resulted in a week long stay in hospital for him.