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Woman Tells Her Sister’s Wedding Guests Not To Touch The Food Because It’s Leftovers From Her Wedding 8 Months Ago
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Woman Tells Her Sister’s Wedding Guests Not To Touch The Food Because It’s Leftovers From Her Wedding 8 Months Ago

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Penny-pinching is a useful skill to have – many of us learned it from our parents, and many of us may find ourselves needing to cut costs again in uncertain times. One woman, however, felt that her mother took things too far for her sister’s wedding and came to Reddit to seek guidance. Had she been wrong for criticizing her mother when her cost-cutting move put wedding guests’ food safety on the line?

This story touches on more than just where we each draw the line when it comes to cost-saving techniques. It also involves questions of trust, respect, and whether one woman can decide to take a risk on food safety without consulting with guests or with the bride at whose wedding the food is being served. Read on to see what happened!

When the author’s mother packed up the leftover food from the open buffet at her wedding 8 months prior, she initially thought nothing of it

Image credits: 9_fingers_ (not the actual photo)

It was only at her sister’s recent wedding that she realized what her thrifty mother had really done with the leftovers that had been sitting out at her wedding!

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Image credits: NomadSoul1 (not the actual photo)

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Image credits: Tasty-Watercress-190

Commenters were nearly unanimously supportive of the author’s actions. Food safety is important and the mother’s actions had quite clearly crossed a few lines

The author – and the commenters who supported her – took issue with a few separate things. One was the fact that the mother decided to take this risk without informing anyone – not the bride or groom, not the guests, and not the author whose food was being reused.

The big one for many, of course, was the question of health and safety. Can frozen leftovers keep for 8 months? How long can food stay out before you freeze it? How long can the thawed food stay out before it goes bad?

Fortunately for us, there are agencies out there who create safety guidelines for situations like this. Here are a few key facts from the author’s story compared to guidelines from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service:

1. The bride’s mother’s assumption that the food would remain safe while frozen was not entirely without merit. “Food stored constantly at 0 °F will always be safe. Only the quality suffers with lengthy freezer storage.”

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2. The bride’s mother served leftovers that had already been left out during the previous wedding. “Freshness and quality at the time of freezing affect the condition of frozen foods. If frozen at peak quality, thawed foods emerge tasting better than foods frozen near the end of their useful life. So freeze items you won’t use quickly sooner rather than later.”

Image credits: fu zhichao (not the actual photo)

3. The thawed leftovers could have been just as dangerous as the day after the wedding 8 months ago. “Freezing to 0 °F inactivates any microbes — bacteria, yeasts and molds — present in food. Once thawed, however, these microbes can again become active, multiplying under the right conditions to levels that can lead to foodborne illness.”

4. We do not know how the food was thawed, but here’s what the USDA has to say: “Freshness and quality at the time of freezing affect the condition of frozen foods. If frozen at peak quality, thawed foods emerge tasting better than foods frozen near the end of their useful life. So freeze items you won’t use quickly sooner rather than later.”

Lastly, some commenters also pointed out that the author had intended to donate the food to a local homeless shelter immediately after her wedding. Instead of shocking and potentially sickening guests at a second wedding 8 months later, the food may have been a welcome surprise for people who were struggling to provide for themselves.

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We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Do you think the author’s response was appropriate, or do you think she overreacted to her mother’s good intentions?

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happyhirts avatar
Mad Dragon
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not that the food was frozen and then thawed. The danger is that it has already sat at room temperature for hours before it was frozen. The bacteria in the food had a chance to grow, multiply, and excrete toxins. These toxins stay behind in the food even if you properly reheat it. The food then sat out for additional time, giving the bacteria time to grow and multiply even more. OP was absolutely correct in warning the guests that the food was not safe.

rachelainsworth avatar
Rachel Ainsworth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cooked rice is known to have a bacteria on it that causes food poisoning in these sorts of conditions.

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rachelainsworth avatar
Rachel Ainsworth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How tacky is it that the leftover food was taken from the soup kitchen? She only saved money by taking food from poor people.

darkdorkychick1778 avatar
brandyy17
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i understand that ppl like to save money but defrosting leftover food from a previous wedding that is 8 months old is horrible. there r alot of ways to save money. my wedding was done in a venue that also double as a restaurant. we picked our dishes for the wedding out of many options. since it had a restaurant area basically anything on the menu was available we chose the dishes we thought everyone would like. it saved us money in the end. i got married in 2020 so covid time and our original plan wouldve been more expensive so we technically saved money on the entire wedding lol. our original venue was beautiful but honestly i liked the one we ended up with better.

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happyhirts avatar
Mad Dragon
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not that the food was frozen and then thawed. The danger is that it has already sat at room temperature for hours before it was frozen. The bacteria in the food had a chance to grow, multiply, and excrete toxins. These toxins stay behind in the food even if you properly reheat it. The food then sat out for additional time, giving the bacteria time to grow and multiply even more. OP was absolutely correct in warning the guests that the food was not safe.

rachelainsworth avatar
Rachel Ainsworth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cooked rice is known to have a bacteria on it that causes food poisoning in these sorts of conditions.

Load More Replies...
rachelainsworth avatar
Rachel Ainsworth
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How tacky is it that the leftover food was taken from the soup kitchen? She only saved money by taking food from poor people.

darkdorkychick1778 avatar
brandyy17
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i understand that ppl like to save money but defrosting leftover food from a previous wedding that is 8 months old is horrible. there r alot of ways to save money. my wedding was done in a venue that also double as a restaurant. we picked our dishes for the wedding out of many options. since it had a restaurant area basically anything on the menu was available we chose the dishes we thought everyone would like. it saved us money in the end. i got married in 2020 so covid time and our original plan wouldve been more expensive so we technically saved money on the entire wedding lol. our original venue was beautiful but honestly i liked the one we ended up with better.

Load More Comments
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