5 Myths About Food Safety

The nose knows what's OK to eat, and other lies that'll make you sick.

- KATE ROCKWOOD

MYTH #1

As long as it smells fine, you can eat it.

MYTHBUSTER Nope. Even if you have the most sensitive sniffer in the world, smell alone isn't enough to tell if a food is safe to eat. In fact, "it's the bacteria you can't see, smell, or taste that are the most dangerous," says Isabel Maples, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Some of the most common foodborne germs (salmonella, norovirus) and the most dangerous ones (E. coli, listeria) don't make food smell bad, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On the flip side, spoilage bacteria, the kind that make your food moldy, smelly, or slimy, won't always make you sick, Maples says-not that you should test that out. Bottom line: If it smells or looks gross, toss it, but also factor in "use by" dates, how long food has been sitting out, how old it is, and how thoroughly it was cooked. Temperature-sensitive food shouldn't sit out longer than two hours; leftovers should be tossed after three or four days; and eggs, meat, and seafood need to be cooked to the temperatures recommended by the USDA, Maples says.

MYTH #2

It's a good idea to wash chicken.