Is food dropped on the floor safe after being cooked long enough and/or at high enough temperatures?

[ScienceNostalgia101]

Not sure if meaningfully distinct from the danger zone thread; feel free to merge them if it isn't.

 

So the other day I noticed that the tupperware in which one of my meals was stored had a hole in it. If that didn't get germs in it, then being startled enough by this to wind up dropping it on the floor; on the side the hole was on; surely did.

 

However, the meal looks otherwise good and I don't want to throw it out needlessly. If I were to take the food out of the tupperware, put it on a cooking sheet, and heat it in the oven, is there a temperature and/or duration reasonably certain to kill all harmful pathogens? And does this need to be done tonight or tomorrow, or would Sunday be fine?

[iNow]

It depends on how dirty your floor is, and dirty with what

Humans have been eating rotting food for centuries. We often even rot food on purpose to make it taste better. I imagine you'll be fine. 

[exchemist]

26 minutes ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

Not sure if meaningfully distinct from the danger zone thread; feel free to merge them if it isn't.

 

So the other day I noticed that the tupperware in which one of my meals was stored had a hole in it. If that didn't get germs in it, then being startled enough by this to wind up dropping it on the floor; on the side the hole was on; surely did.

 

However, the meal looks otherwise good and I don't want to throw it out needlessly. If I were to take the food out of the tupperware, put it on a cooking sheet, and heat it in the oven, is there a temperature and/or duration reasonably certain to kill all harmful pathogens? And does this need to be done tonight or tomorrow, or would Sunday be fine?

If your floor is reasonably clean, then I think the bigger issue will be the fact that the food has been exposed to the microbes in the air, because of the hole, for perhaps quite a long period. You don't say what this meal consists of (whether dry or wet, cooked or uncooked, etc). If it was a hot, cooked meal such as a stew, that was supposed to have been sealed from the air in a sterile state after cooking, then you might want to be a bit careful if it has been kept in something with a hole in it for several days. But I really doubt that a few seconds contact with a clean kitchen floor will do much harm.   

[ScienceNostalgia101]

Overnight update: Cooked it on the oven for a half hour to be on the safe side (wasn't sure it'd still be safe to eat if I left it another day) and I still feel fine hours later. Whatever bacteria got in the food through that hole, at least they didn't alter it chemically. At least not in any significantly harmful ways.

[dimreepr]

7 hours ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

Overnight update: Cooked it on the oven for a half hour to be on the safe side (wasn't sure it'd still be safe to eat if I left it another day) and I still feel fine hours later. Whatever bacteria got in the food through that hole, at least they didn't alter it chemically. At least not in any significantly harmful ways.

Sniff it, if it smells bad don't eat it...

[iNow]

9 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Sniff it, if it smells bad don't eat it...

If I did this, I’d never have good cheese, sauerkraut, Kim chi, chili mash, kefir, kombuchas, tempeh, or any of the other foods we intentionally spoil to make them preserved and amazing tasting.