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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

WTAF???? DH has just done this...

331 replies

ArsenalsPlayingAtHome · 24/04/2017 16:33

I know I am NBU but I just need to see if everyone else would be as fuming as I am.

DH has just picked DCs up from school. Last night DH cooked delicious roast chicken dinner. He was in charge of clearing up afterwards. There were two chicken pieces which he left on the hob in the roasting tin. I thought he was going to give them to the dog.

DD aged 7yrs has just come upto me and told me that she's just eaten two pieces of chicken and it was delicious!

I've checked...DH didn't heat up the chicken, which has been on the top of the hob in our warm kitchen, *(ie not in the fridge) for approximately 10 hours.

I thought she'd just swiped them, but no, DH gave them her to eat. FFS!

OP posts:
Happyhippy45 · 24/04/2017 17:31

I'm amazed none of you have managed to kill your families!

The ignorance of food hygiene astounds me.

Food should be cooled to about room temperature (19c) within 90 minutes then refrigerated. Bacteria grows very quickly at room temperature.

In the olden days folks had cold rooms/larders. They also didn't have central heating. They also got sick a lot more.

Your dd might be fine this time but it's risky.
She also might not get sick today as some food poisoning can take 3 days to effect you. I'd guarantee she'll at the very least have some pretty smelly poos for a bit.
YADNBU to be fuming with dp.

user1493035447 · 24/04/2017 17:32

You say it was a roast chicken. Did it have skin covering it overnight? If so, did DD eat said skin or throw it away? This could be important in the decision as to whether to feed it to her. I eat cold chicken legs that were cooked days ago from the supermarket and they never seem to have any lasting effects.

EssentialHummus · 24/04/2017 17:33

Am I the only one sorry that the poor dog missed out on his chicken?

PeaFaceMcgee · 24/04/2017 17:34

I eat cold chicken legs that were cooked days ago from the supermarket and they never seem to have any lasting effects

You eat them straight from the fridge though, don't you? Not the same thing at all.

AgentOprah · 24/04/2017 17:35

I got really bad food poisoning last summer from leaving the kids' lunch leftovers out all afternoon in a warm kitchen and then eating them at tea time without thoroughly reheating Blush. I knew at the time it was risky.

I actually always fridge and reheat leftover kebab too!

Believeitornot · 24/04/2017 17:37

I eat cold chicken legs that were cooked days ago from the supermarket and they never seem to have any lasting effects

Was it sitting at room temperature or did you fridge it pretty quickly.... I'm guessing the latter in which case your example is irrelevant.

Anyway, just because some people with poor hygiene have been fine, many have not.

Campylobacter is nasty stuff (main bacteria found on raw chicken)

user1493035447 · 24/04/2017 17:37

AgentOprah, are you saying you left food out for 4 or 5 hours and were ill? Are you sure that's even possible? It must have been full of germ bugs to start with!

MsGameandWatch · 24/04/2017 17:38

If she's not going to die what is the problem?

Well there's always the risk of permanent disability or brain damage and at the least it's a highly unpleasant and painful experience that could be so easily avoided.

Catherinebee85 · 24/04/2017 17:38

I wouldn't bat an eyelid. I'm more surprised you have leftover roast chicken enough for 2 days food!

PeaFaceMcgee · 24/04/2017 17:39

I think you're on a wind up user - surely nobody can be that ignorant Hmm

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 24/04/2017 17:41

You'll have to wait and see. I once left out overnight a lovely chicken curry I cooked. In the morning had two spoonfulls - Envy --> not envy. I was not well, let just say.

Your Dd might be fine though - you never know if the chicken has the vommy bacteria (scientific) or not

AgentOprah · 24/04/2017 17:42

user yes I was really ill for about a week! It was probably nearer 6 hours and was in August. At least I didn't let the DC eat it though.

NennyNooNoo · 24/04/2017 17:43

How can it have been left for only 10 hours if it was cooked last night and you posted at 4.33 this afternoon saying she had just eaten it?

MyLittleBoyBlue · 24/04/2017 17:44

You can't feed cooked chicken bones to dogs. They can't digest them and the shards can get lodged in their intestines. If you've done it without issue you've been lucky. We've had a vet perform enemas and eventually surgery because a dog was given a chicken carcass by next door neighbours. Apparently they left one on the garden wall for her every Sunday for months Hmm

I often fall asleep after Sunday dinner and forget to put leftovers in the fridge. I've always reheated them and been fine. Wouldn't serve them to a kid though.

daisychain01 · 24/04/2017 17:50

If it was 25deg outside and in the middle of summer, you would need to worry. And you'd hope your DH wouldn't be stupid enough to leave meat outside the fridge for so long.

As it's still quite cool out there and only about 10-12 deg it will be OK.

TheTabardOfDoom · 24/04/2017 17:52

Food poisoning can cause life long problems due to organ damage. I have had salmonella and I thought I was going to die. I didn't eat for 20 days and the GP came out twice a day threatening to get me in and on a drip if I dehydrated any more. I hallucinated and my skin tented and I looked like a bloody tortoise. I spent five days sat on the bog with my head in the basin.
Providing the chicken has been cooked through or there was no pathogenic bacteria there in the first place it will probably be fine but all the posters with a blaze attitude to vibrio etc should look at the stats for the death and long term damage caused to liver and kidneys due to less than vigilant behaviours around food contaminated by nasties. As for those citing long ago and far away. A family often ate fresh every day and also people died of all sorts of things and as food poisoning wasn't just invented in the last ten years, some of those deaths would likely have been as a result of salmonella, campy and ptomaine etc. They just didn't connect the two and put it on grave stones is all.

WorraLiberty · 24/04/2017 17:53

ChrisYoung, they can do a lot of damage on the way in and the way out of the dog.

If your dog has been fine so far, that's down to good luck.

user1493035447 · 24/04/2017 17:53

I was once in China and stuck my hand in a water tank where they were keeping live fish to eat. Stupidly I never washed my hands before going for a drink, and it must have contaminated my glass. I was ill for a week then, and came close to going to hospital, but I've never had that from leaving food out for a day or two. I wouldn't have believed it!

SoulAccount · 24/04/2017 17:55

The OP said her kitchen is warm.

I'm with the scientists.

We do get away with this sort of thing a lot of the time, but I wouldn't take the risk. Can't afford to add unnecessary days to the 'manage work and childcare' equation.

PeaFaceMcgee · 24/04/2017 17:56

As it's still quite cool out there and only about 10-12 deg it will be OK

What do you mean 'out there'? How do you know the temp of OP's kitchen?

Bacterial growth on food only slows to 'safe' levels (for a certain period of time) at below 4C.

scaryclown · 24/04/2017 17:56

I think you are lucky to have a husband who will cook family meals for you.

scaryclown · 24/04/2017 17:57

(couldn't resist some dry dark humour)
Grin

I think she'll be fine, its not been mega hot. Its not great practice, but most probably ok.

Fireandflames666 · 24/04/2017 18:00

That's so disgusting. I've had food poisoning from chicken and i now suffer from ibs and other digestive issues. I would never eat left out chicken again.

Mrscog · 24/04/2017 18:00

I will go with the middle of the road response of not ideal but you'll probably be ok - it depends on what bacteria were on it and the general air temperature of your kitchen - 30-40 degrees is the best temp for campylobacter growth so the nearer your house is to that temperature the riskier it is. However all the campylobacter was hopefully killed during the cooking process!

None of this is an exact science - you don't know what/if any bacteria were left on the chicken. If your house is 20 degrees that's not a temperature that they grow at maximum rate, although you will get some bacterial growth at that temp, your DC might already have some resistance to any of the bacteria from past exposures. However it should have been in the fridge really to decrease the risks.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 24/04/2017 18:01

I hope DD is ok.

I don't think I'd be fuming if he didn't realise he shouldn't have given her it. Most men I know could eat a raw chicken & never get ill, so if he's got a good constitution he might not even realise.

Plenty of the older generation in my family think nothing of doing things like that. Even my Great Aunt (whose hygiene you could not fault, I'd eat off her loo seat in preference to most people's worktops) leaves things out that I wouldn't dream of.

I don't have a very forgiving constitution and cannot stand being sick, so I'm quite careful and uber careful with very small children.

Just explain the DH why it's not a good idea. Go mad if he does it again.