To help ensure food safety you should always

• A. Reheat perishable foods before serving
• B. Keep perishable foods at room temperature
• C. Discard foods that have been out for more than two hours
• D. Ignore leftovers after normal mealtime

Answer: (C)

Food safety centers on stopping bacteria from growing by keeping foods out of the temperature danger zone. Perishable items should not sit at room temperature for extended periods because bacteria multiply quickly when kept warm. The standard rule is to discard foods that have been left out for more than two hours (one hour if it’s very hot, above 90°F/32°C). This makes sense because once that window passes, the risk of harmful bacterial levels rises, and reheating later can’t reliably eliminate toxins that may have formed. Keeping perishable foods at room temperature only increases risk, and ignoring leftovers means missing a safe way to store and reheat them later.