When it comes to food safety, especially with leftovers, chicken is one of the most important foods to handle carefully. It might seem harmless to leave cooked chicken out on the counter overnight, but food safety experts are very clear on this issue.
Cooked chicken should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours. If the room is warm, that window drops to just one hour. After that, bacteria such as Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus can begin to multiply rapidly, even if the chicken still looks and smells fine. Unfortunately, reheating it does not always make it safe again, because some bacteria can produce toxins that aren’t destroyed by heat.
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