That takeout sushi you like could be seriously sus.
When a pricey takeout dinner arrives late and cold, it’s more than just another annoyance at the end of a long day — your meal could also wind up making you sick, experts warn.
That’s because the longer prepared food sits around waiting to be collected by a tardy driver and brought to you, the less time it spends at the right temperature.
This leaves your food in the danger zone, where it can pick up various, potentially lethal bacteria, such as salmonella and E. coli.
“I would not order food through a third-party delivery to be delivered to the home,” Dr Darin Detwiler, a former FDA and USDA food safety advisor, told the Daily Mail.
“It’s going to take longer to get there, and it’s probably not going to be kept at the right temperature,” he warned.
According to the FDA, bacteria can grow swiftly, even doubling every 20 minutes, if food is allowed to sit out at temperatures between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
The risk is greatest for raw foods like sushi, as well as certain kinds of shellfish — but Detwiler doesn’t recommend any third-party takeout at all.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a whopping 48 million Americans battle foodborne illnesses every single year. Out of that number, 128,000 wind up in the hospital and 3,000 die, the agency said.
Out of a range of possible afflictions, the most commonly diagnosed is norovirus, affecting one in 15 Americans every years and now raging across the New York region.
Detwiler also had few kind words to say about grabbing lunch from the hot buffet or salad bar at trendy supermarkets like Wegmans or Manhattan staple Whole Foods.
“I would never ever, ever, ever go to a buffet or eat from a salad bar,” he admitted.
That’s because, Detwiler says, these very public sites present a “major opportunity” for contamination, thanks to how many people visit every day, each one potentially spreading their germs.
Detwiler also pointed out that many of the foods found on a hot bar require different temperatures to stay safe — something that’s not always easily managed or regulated.
And those Mongolian barbecue restaurants, or other eateries that have you pick out your own ingredients and pass them to the chef to cook? Skip those too, he said.