41 or lower
That is a false statement, if you define High Risk foods as being highly perishable and potentially hazardous. Perishable and hazardous foods should be left at room temperature for no more than 2 hours.
Hot Storage Hot potentially hazardous food should be stored at or above 60°C at all times. Equipment that can be used to keep potentially hazardous foods hot include: • Bain Marie • Pie Warmer * Potentially hazardous food must be placed into bain maries and pie warmers hot as they are designed to maintain hot temperatures and not to heat food up to 60°C or above. Bain maries and pie warmers must also be hot prior to placing hot potentially hazardous foods into them.
To keep bacteria from growing
Generally, potentially hazardous foods should be stores at 40°F or below. Vacuum-packaged foods that require refrigeration should be stored at 38°F or below, due to concerns about Clostridium botulinum.
Potentially Hazardous Food is a term used by food safety organizations to classify foods that require time-temperature control to keep them safe for human consumption.These are foods thatwill support the rapid growth of pathogenic organismshave a water activity (aw) above .85have a pH above 4.6.
eat it and hope you don't die
Potentially hazadous food. Since these foods can harbor pathogenic microorganisms and permit their growth or the production of toxins, special care must be taken to keep them out of the temperature. Or pathogenic microoganisms will grow on the food.
Most food safety experts will say to not leave food out for more than 2 hours. It may or may not be unsafe to eat, but eating it is not worth the risk. Do not eat potentially hazardous food that has been left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
You should keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. The temperature to keep bacteria out of hot foods is 160 degrees and above. Cold foods should be kept at 40 degrees or below.
The hard & fast rule is that if a potentially hazardous product is in "the zone" of 40-140f for 4 hours, out it goes. Given that beef is on the list of potentially hazardous items, there really isn't a gray area. Another Answer:That will depend on the temperature of the room, how well the refrigerator is insulated, how often the door is opened and the type of food. Once the temperature of the potentially hazardous food itself (like meat, milk, poultry, seafood, cooked beans, processed produce, etc) has gotten above 40°F for more than 2 hours, the food should be discarded. An unopened refrigerator should be able to hold safe temperatures for 4 hours. The freezer side of the fridge should keep longer since the temperatures started out lower and that part might be better insulated.
Lower temperature inhibits bacterial growth.
To avoid it getting contaminated by bacteria.