How Risky Is It to Eat Questionable Leftovers?

One of the most common questions on cooking sites and forums is whether leftover food should be thrown out. The best advice is to prevent these questions , by learning how to store food properly, estimate quantities, keep track of what you have, and use leftovers creatively.

But what happens if you fear your food has been hanging around for too long? You can look up storage times on various sites, but the recommendations tend to be overly cautious. So much depends on how the food was prepared, and the storage conditions. I suggest using those sites only as a general guideline. If the food looks and smells good, it’s probably safe.

Cook Kidney Beans Safely

In the comments section of the Vegetarian Potato Stew, commenter Mrs Belogski asks: “Aren’t you supposed to boil kidney beans rapidly for a few minutes to destroy a particular toxin which they contain?”

Mrs Belogski then found this explanation of toxins in kidney beans:

From http://www.vegsoc.org/info/pulses.html

Red kidney beans: Incidents of food poisoning have been reported associated with the consumption of raw or undercooked red kidney beans