Is this safe to eat?

[namechange977]

I cooked a bolognese last night. There was some left over which I left in the pan on the hob. I came downstairs at about 3am and stuck the pan in the fridge. Will it be safe to eat for lunch today, given it was left out for about seven hours?

I imagine mould not bacteria is the problem with uncovered food, the mould spores are everywhere, but they take a long time to grow to risky levels of concentration. Leaving item out uncovered for days would foster mould.

About the staph bacteria... CDC talks about food left out at 40 deg+ temps and it's the toxin that persists after cooking (whereas cooking actually does destroy the bacteria). If the toxin was a problem originally, the food was never safe to eat even when freshly cooked. If the staph Aur bacteria got in there after cooking, still needs a long period of growing while there to build up to hazardous levels of the toxin.

So basically, in OPs situation, it's fine to eat assuming the item was ever cooked properly and her kitchen isn't very hot temps or OP actually means item sat out for a few days.

My kitchen is cold at night. I’ve just eaten it!

What swayed me was the recollection I’d already eaten some of it cold at 3am and was fine this morning.

Must admit though I am a little nervous!

i would definitely eat it !

So far so good!

Update: I’m totally fine!

God people are so stupid. Why would you even think that's not OK. What do you think people did before fridges. No wonder the food waste in the UK is shocking.

There must be something wrong with me, id eat it even if it hadn’t been in the fridge!
but this skanky attitude has resulted in me and my kids being very resilient, only had food poisoning once in our lives, off Serrano in Spain

Oh noes! No update since 08.50!!!