Pizza, an item of food, in the face of which, all other pleasures of material life pales in comparison. I’m sure we can all agree that pizza is the best comfort food in the world, and for that, we will forever be grateful to Italy, where it first came into being.
Oh, a fun fact about the origin of pizza! The first ever pizza was made by an Italian chef called Raffaele Esposito with just three basic ingredients- fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil leaves!
The idea was to create the colors of the Italian National Flag with the vibrant colors of red, white, and green on the fresh bread. The amalgamation of these beautiful ingredients, the colors and the mouth-watering blast of flavors made it an instant hit among people.
And thus, pizza- one of the greatest inventions of food science- was created to grace the taste buds of mankind for eternity.
What’s Better Than Fresh Pizza?
Well, left-over pizza of course! Imagine, the day after the party. All the cleaning up has left you feeling more tired than you were after the party. You are so hungry, you could eat a whole cow. Dejectedly, you walk towards the fridge expecting nothing.
As soon as the door of the fridge opens, the first thing you see is some of that delicious pizza from last night! For some reason, the pizza looks even more scrumptious now than on the night before.
You can’t believe your luck. The pizza is all yours now, ready to be devoured. But wait! Should you trust it? Is the pizza safe or did the microbes in the fridge already tamper with it?
Well, sad though it might be, let us tell you that your worries are very real.
Why Is Leftover Pizza Scary?
Consuming leftovers is inadvisable because there are a lot of microbes that grow on food if it is kept lying around in the open. However, this doesn’t mean that we have to throw away all the unconsumed food.
Nowadays, due to refrigerators, we have become very accustomed to storing food for long periods of time without suffering any consequence. But this doesn’t mean there isn’t any risk involved.
The Department of Agriculture in America (USDA) declared that any perishable food kept at room temperature for more than 2 hours is not safe for consumption.
And if it stayed out at room temperature all night, then it must be thrown away immediately.
This rule applies to your pizza as well.
However, if the pizza was stored in the fridge under 20° Fahrenheit, the USDA says that it can stay safe for consumption for up to four to five days!
But if consumed after the fifth day, the chances of contracting a food-borne illness increases significantly. The common food-inhabiting bacteria usually breed faster in warm temperatures than in cold temperatures.
Which is why storing food in the cold makes it retain its freshness longer by protecting it against the fungi and microbes that are responsible for causing food-borne diseases in the human body.
Remember that your food does not have absolute immunity against microbial invasion even if it is stored in the fridge. So you have to be very careful; food poisoning can be pretty fatal to the human body.
How Long Does Pizza Stay Fresh In The Fridge?
Different pizzas have different lengths of freshness due to the variation in the toppings. Well, actually, a number of factors contribute to this. Take a look.
The Ingredients
The freshness of the ingredients used to make the pizza is a huge contributor to the expiration of the pizza.
Different ingredients have different expiration dates. So, naturally, the expiration date of your pizza is limited by the expiration date of the ingredients. If one ingredient goes bad, the entire pizza goes bad.
Hygiene Level
The cleanliness of the production area, the utensils used and the hygiene level of the fridge, all of it matters.
How Long Did The Pizza Stay Out At Room Temperature?
The sooner it gets into the fridge, the longer it will stay fresh.
Was It Stored Properly?
The best way to store pizza is to stack the pizza slices on top of each other on a plate lined with tissue paper, and seal it with plastic wrap so that the pizza doesn’t dry out in the fridge.
Life Of A Frozen Pizza In The Fridge
Frozen pizza can stay fresh for a long time if the seal is not broken. You will find the exact time of expiration stated on the box.
They last much longer than baked pizza, at any rate usually, from 6 months to about a year, depending on the manufacturing company.
Conclusion
Food-borne diseases are very common nowadays. In serious cases, they can take a huge toll on the person’s health, and in our busy lives, we definitely can not afford that.
Therefore, it is very important that you maintain proper hygiene and caution while handling food matters.
Store food properly so you don’t have to throw it away, and let the money that went into buying it go to waste. Finally, keep your senses alert, for they will be the first to tell you if the food has gone bad. Stay clean, eat fresh!