Chef details how long you can leave food out for before it’s a health risk

It’s all too easy to cook dinner, leave leftovers to cool in the pan, then re-discover them sitting there a few hours later. Is it still safe to eat, or should it go straight in the bin?

If you’ve ever wondered something similar, listen up. Chef Jon Kung has lifted the lid of how the professionals view the age-old question of whether to keep or chuck some food that’s been left out.

While it might seem wasteful to throw seemingly-safe food out, food poisoning is no joke. At a minimum it will make you feel awful, and it can prove fatal in extreme cases.

Jon, based in Detroit, has over 1.7 million followers on TikTok under his @jonkung account, and he took to the platform to share his advice on how long you can leave food out.

Chef Jon Kung sharing his food safety tip - @jonkung via TikTok

It all boils down one tip, which Jon says is the “one sure-fire way of not being killed by your own food”.

He calls it the 40-14-4 rule, and it factors in both time and temperature to help you gauge whether that grub should get chucked straight in the bin.

“Basically it means if you let your food sit for four hours between the temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, you need to throw it out," he said in his video.

“That's what restaurants are told to do."

Of course, Fahrenheit is practically another language in the UK. In Celsius, our much more sensible system, the range is 4.4 to 60 degrees. That covers just about any ambient temperature outside of the coldest months.

Jon explained: "That is like a baseline for safety.

“Anything you do outside of that baseline is now a risk.

"If I ate a grilled chicken breast that was fully cooked that had been sitting on my countertop for six hours, will I immediately die? Probably not. Will I get sick? Maybe.

“But I'm a pretty healthy individual.

“If I were elderly, immune-compromised or very young that risk is higher.

Box up and refrigerate leftovers as soon as they cool down - Kinga Krzeminska via Getty Images

“But for everyone, the longer you let that chicken sit there between 40 and 140 degrees, that risk goes up for everyone."

The video has drawn millions of views, and plenty of fans have been grateful for the tip.

"I have no idea how I'm still alive. My parents broke this rule every single day of my childhood," said one person.

"I worked food service in my teens, learned this and it's been my rule of thumb for over 20 years now,” said another.

A third offered a warning: "I did this with pasta once years ago. The worst throw up/food poisoning I've experienced to this day."

As a general rule, get that food cooled down, covered, and in a fridge as soon as possible once it’s done cooking.