Oh fuck!! Fridge at at least 9 degrees, turkey inside.

[Flowersandhearts]

I have (diagnosed) severe OCD and emetophobia (vomit phobia) so this is a nightmare. We are staying in a holiday rental and I set the fridge to 2 degrees but someone turned it down to 'super' when the fresh turkey and pigs in blankets arrived yesterday morning, which frustratingly turns it up a lot.
I've been really busy and only just found out now. Items from the fridge don't feel cold and a meat thermometer is reading the air temperature at 9.5ish. I am so worried about food poisoning :-(

The rest of the family are not willing to forego our Christmas Dinner (I'm living with family so it's not my call to make and don't have kids of my own) but I think I'll avoid eating it. How likely do you think it is that everyone is going to get sick?

The OP said she was trying to convince her family to bin it. That's what the poster you quote is talking about.

Stuff like this really worries me but I would eat this. The colder food is the slower bacteria reproduce, they also need enough time. The temperature is still cool enough for them to be really slow and not enough time will have passed for them to become unsafe, just make sure it’s cooked properly - like you should anyway!

OP said she wanted to.

@WrongWayApricot

You're being really unnecessarily aggressive.

Some people gave sensible advice including to keep the fridge shut for a good while as it was making the problem worse. Without shame or ridicule. My friend is emetephobic and that is what she says helps when she panics about food - practical facts that help her not to spiral or catastrophise. Different things help different people.

Getting angry and sweary and saying stuff like "Have you got any help for your delusions" is hardly mental health friendly is it?

Plenty of people were trying to be helpful. Chill.

Oh op. I don’t have any of your mental health issues, but I do understand. It’s not as simple as ‘have a drink and get over it’.
Firstly, this kind of thermometer isn’t going to be accurate.
Now let’s think logically, the turkey will be fine, it really will, but I understand if you feel you can’t eat it.
Cook it for everyone else though and just don’t eat it.
You are with people you love, they will understand, but don’t ruin their day too.

@Mummy1608

But *@wrongwayapricot I for one I'm not saying "keep the fridge closed because it'll be fine". I'm saying it's because* OP keeps opening the fridge that's why it's getting warm in there. I'm a big germ phobe myself and especially anything gastro related. In our house I'm really fussy about nobody opening the fridge unless they really need to, and even then it's a quick open-grab-shut. You do not stand there dithering while the fridge door is open, that's how food gets warm and goes off before its date. So no, I'm not minimising her concerns, I'm saying it's a problem she has created herself and is exacerbating.

I was pretty sure I'd read that advice more than once and that was what I was pointing out, I wasn't pointing the finger at one person. It just really pisses me off to see everyone pretending this isn't a big deal for the person living through it.

Fwiw I'm like you, keep the door shut and keep the thermometer always visible so I can read it just by quickly glancing at the shelf. Was happy to see it resting at 1 today. Everyone's mental health can play out differently and if OP feels she has to check the fridge that's just the compulsion she has, it's just different to ours. I'm not saying she should check it but just that I understand if that's where her head takes her.

I'm sorry to have made you feel singled out and that I was having a go at you.

you cannot measure air temperatures that low accurately with a meat thermometer. Early bacterial growth will be nuked or inconsequential in an oven for a few hours. When did you get the turkey?

I hope this isn't too harsh. OP its your illnesses and condition that is driving this and controlling you and your behaviours. You can not control others to suit you. You need to realise that and know that not only are your behaviours damaging to you, it is also hurting others around you. You need to stop distract yourself. Hopefully the fridge has been turned down by now if not do it and then stop looking at the fridge. You are risking other people.

A meat thermometer will only be accurate in a fridge if you leave it there for around 24 hours. It isn't giving you accurate readings if you're moving it around shelves. Your fridge is definitely not running at 10 degrees of differing temperatures between the top and bottom shelf. That is not possible.

Please don't throw out the food - it's fine. Don't eat it yourself by all means but please don't upset your family by throwing it out.

I have severe ocd, it is bad around food, but i agree stop opening the fridge.
Don’t eat it.
If i feel that food looks/seems in any way iffy i don’t eat it. I don’t stop other people.
It’s my problem, it’s no-one else's is.
If everyone wants to take the risk then that’s on them.
If you don’t want to eat anything, then that’s ok! You don’t need to, but don’t stop others, it’s their decision.

[quote youvegottenminuteslynn]@WrongWayApricot

You're being really unnecessarily aggressive.

Some people gave sensible advice including to keep the fridge shut for a good while as it was making the problem worse. Without shame or ridicule. My friend is emetephobic and that is what she says helps when she panics about food - practical facts that help her not to spiral or catastrophise. Different things help different people.

Getting angry and sweary and saying stuff like "Have you got any help for your delusions" is hardly mental health friendly is it?

Plenty of people were trying to be helpful. Chill. [/quote]
You didn't understand that I was using what is usually said maliciously to those of us with mental health issues sarcastically towards someone putting words in my mouth? You want me to be mindful of the mental health of the person attacking mine?

Yes different advice, helps different people. So why is my different advice the only one that's being jumped on? My first post didn't say anybody else's advice was wrong, it just said what I would do and that I was sorry OP was in that situation. But at last count 3 people have quoted it to tell me I'm unhelpful, one has told me my mental health is ruining Christmas and another has made up her own version of my words so she can be more angry. It's just a digital example of real life whenever you say 'I'd rather not eat it and if you don't mind I want to get some fresh air, thanks'. It'll be fine people don't like that. They make a big fuss and say you made it.

'Unnecessarily aggressive' is debatable imo.

We regularly don't have room for the goose in the fridge do put it in the conservatory for the 48hours we have it. It's never made us even remotely poorly. Have you got a freezer? Put a bag of peas or something in the fridge next to it and you'll be beyond fine. I'd go nuts if someone tried to throw out my decent food on this basis, haven't you heard there is a food waste crisis?

Don’t let anyone tell you/force you tomorrow to eat anything, you decide what you want to eat, however as a fellow ocd sufferer, please try to not let this especially around food get worse.
It’s truly miserable!

Just smell it and feel it. It should be fine don’t waste that turkey life

@Flowersandhearts

What would you do?

I don't know if you are being treated for OCD, or where you are in your treatment, but it's not healthy to use an internet forum to reassure you over this. For the average person, fair enough, but treatment for OCD means learning to accept and manage the anxiety and letting it pass without lots of reassurance from others.

Let the others in the rental decide what to do for themselves and you do what is comfortable for you. Or, if you are taking part in CBT, then now could be a chance to push yourself a little. Maybe eating the meat would be too much for you but you could challenge yourself to something veggie or egg-based from the fridge. Good luck, OP. You can manage this.

@WrongWayApricot

It's just a digital example of real life whenever you say 'I'd rather not eat it and if you don't mind I want to get some fresh air, thanks'.

But people are responding to OP's situation, she didn't say anything like that. If she had said 'I've told them I won't have those bits but obviously they still can' nobody would have said she was spoiling Christmas dinner. But she said she was 'trying to insist on chucking it out' which was upsetting the people she's with as it's their food too! So yes, throwing it out would ruin Christmas dinner for the others. That's what people were saying.

Anyway, I can see someone else must have reported the post where you were ever so angry as it has been removed.

We always keep ours in the cellar for a couple of days, warmer than 9°, my only concern is that someone leaves the door open and the cat eats it.

I don't really understand the drama, just don't eat it if you're worried, but you don't have to piss everyone else off.

The food is fine.

You do realise that almost all recipes for joints of meat tell you to take the meat out of the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to allow it to warm to room temperature (which isnt long enough for it to reach room temperature but it takes the chill off).

I promise you, a few hours at 9/10 degrees is just not long enough for bacterial growth to be a problem, especially not with out food standards.

The food is fine. If you dont want to eat it, then that's up to you, but dont put your decision onto everyone else. Let them eat the food. It is fine.

As the daughter of a man with OCD especially around food and diet, if this was my dad, I’d want him to step away from the fridge, quietly decide whether he was going to have the turkey himself or not, and then just stop talking about it.

Living with someone with OCD is exhausting.

This is completely the same as my anxiety right now! Identical issue. I’m in a rental. I bought a fridge thermometer because I don’t think the fridge is cold. It’s reading about 8 degrees. I’m struggling inwardly with anxiety but I am fortunate in having an extra small fridge where I now have the turkey. The big fridge is packed with our Christmas goodies and I definitely won’t be throwing anything out.
I will cook the food as normal and hope for no issues. I don’t think there are going to be any issues. Anxiety is awful op and I really understand. Particularly if you have a diagnosed disorder.
I’m actually quite proud of myself for dealing with this issue without panic. And to top it off I’ve got the covid.
So I would urge you to put this out of your mind and eat and drink as normal.
If you keep opening to take temperature I think that will be warming things.
Have a jolly Christmas and enjoy everything if you can.

meat thermometer is for cooked temp. Thigh should reach 75 degrees to be safe to eat.

@Flowersandhearts

What would you do?

Throw it all away and get a takeaway because you can trust those, can't you?

My turkey is defrosting in an unheated room and will be ready to cook at 9am. The temperature outside is 9 degrees C. It's very cold in there.

If you're that worried for yourself don't eat it and try to find a good excuse. Do not infect anyone else with your irrational fears. That would be selfish and self indulgent.

Thank you everyone for your replies :-) .

Thanks for the supportive ones- OCD is a horrble illness and I'm really sorry some of you are struggling with this too. I have had lots of CBT, including a 3 month stay in hospital and my condition has ruined my life so I really appreciate the empathy.

Thanks to everyone else for their perspectives too, its really helpful to hear from people who don't have OCD and who would have different approaches to the situation.

I think I will just let everyone else eat it and have lots of crisps and drinks.
I

Merry Christmas @Flowersandhearts