> In the specific case, I want to eat pizza the morning after ordering it. My track record clearly shows I’m not going to remember to put it in the fridge.
A much more interesting article would have been about string cheese [1]. It too is something you aren't supposed to leave out. Yet it is very common to put it in packed lunches that won't be eaten until hours later, or to carry it in a backpack all day to use as an afternoon snack, or to take it on camping trips.
With string cheese it is not just about people who can't remember to use a fridge ("Alexa, remind me in two hours to put the leftover pizza in the fridge" would deal with his problem). People are deliberately and on a large scale using string cheese that has been out beyond the recommended time.
Yet illness from string cheese gone bad seems to be very rare.
Is this because string cheese is generally sold packaged as single serving sticks in a tightly sealed wrap and comes from the factory with little or no bacteria, so it is not until you actually open a stick that the clock starts running?
[1] There are several different things called "string cheese". I am referring to what is commonly sold in the US as that [2].
I suspect that there is a lot of variability in the category of "cheese" as to what needs to be refrigerated. We just say it all does because we don't know where the line is.
I doubt illness would be common even eating opened string cheese after 4-8 hours. Cheese doesn't breed harmful bacteria very quickly from what I understand.
Anecdotally, cheese can often be kept out for a very long time; it mostly just gets slimy. I often take cheddar camping in warm weather for a day or two without issue, or even more days if it's packaged string cheese. Of course your mileage may vary.
Cheese developed as a way to preserve calories such that they last a long time (also, is already effectively mold). If you don't mind a bit of continued growth, it can be stable for a long time.
Source: I've taken blocks of cheese on multi-week camping trips with no issues. Wrap and seal them well, cut off the newly blue bits if you aren't comfortable eating them them, you'll probably be fine.
A much more interesting article would have been about string cheese [1]. It too is something you aren't supposed to leave out. Yet it is very common to put it in packed lunches that won't be eaten until hours later, or to carry it in a backpack all day to use as an afternoon snack, or to take it on camping trips.
With string cheese it is not just about people who can't remember to use a fridge ("Alexa, remind me in two hours to put the leftover pizza in the fridge" would deal with his problem). People are deliberately and on a large scale using string cheese that has been out beyond the recommended time.
Yet illness from string cheese gone bad seems to be very rare.
Is this because string cheese is generally sold packaged as single serving sticks in a tightly sealed wrap and comes from the factory with little or no bacteria, so it is not until you actually open a stick that the clock starts running?
[1] There are several different things called "string cheese". I am referring to what is commonly sold in the US as that [2].
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_cheese#United_States