How long can perishable food sit out at room temperature?
Reviewed 2026-10-21
Refrigerate perishable food within two hours, or within one hour when the air temperature is above 90°F (32°C). Discard it if it has exceeded the applicable limit. Count the time across shopping, the drive, unloading and serving; putting food back in the fridge does not undo earlier warm exposure.
Groceries left in a hot car: raw chicken, meat, milk, chilled ready-to-eat food and leftovers need cold transport. FDA warns that a car is probably hotter than ordinary room temperature. The outside weather reading alone does not establish safe conditions inside a parked car. Do not treat two hours as an allowance for a hot car: the one-hour limit applies above 90°F (32°C).
Cooler with ice or freezer packs: FoodSafety.gov recommends keeping food at 40°F (4°C) or below and checking with a thermometer. A cooler that actually maintains that temperature provides cold storage; an insulated bag without enough ice is not proof that food stayed cold. Separate raw meat and its juices from ready-to-eat food.
If the time or temperature history is unknown: discard perishable food whose cold storage you cannot establish. A cold reading after re-chilling cannot prove what happened earlier. Smell, appearance or a small taste cannot establish safety.
Can cooking or reheating rescue it? No. FDA explains that some organisms produce toxins that survive cooking. Reheating food left warm too long is not a substitute for safe storage.
Dry groceries are different: this time rule concerns foods needing refrigeration, not intact shelf-stable dry pasta or dry sugar. Follow the actual package storage directions. For the drive home, FDA recommends the air-conditioned passenger compartment instead of a hot trunk and minimizing transport time.