Travel & Lifestyle: Is It Safe To Eat Food Delivery That Arrived Cool Or Just Warm?

Whether you’re partial to Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates or another third-party food delivery service, you probably love the convenience of getting your favorite restaurant meal delivered just by pressing a few buttons on your phone.

You’re certainly in good company. The U.S. online food delivery market was valued at over $28 billion in 2023, and it’s been predicted that it will rise to more than $66 billion by 2032.

Delivery is certainly convenient, even though it’s not always cheap. And if your food doesn’t always arrive piping hot, it’s still safe to eat, right?

Yeah, about that: Food safety scientists have been warning of possible dangers when you dig into a formerly hot, now just lukewarm meal. There’s a term in their field called the “danger zone,” and it exists when food is sitting out in temperatures between 40° and 140° F.

“Within this range, microorganisms multiply rapidly, and some can even double every 20 minutes,” said author and food science consultant Bryan Quoc Le. “Whenever foods do enter that danger zone, it’s important to not stay in that temperature range for more than two hours.”

During a brutally hot summer like the ones we’ve been experiencing recently, that zone shrinks quite a bit, said Matt Taylor, global senior manager for food consulting at NSF, an independent organization that develops standards for public health and safety.

“At warmer temperatures, such as a hot day at 90°F, the safe period drops from two hours to one hour,” he said.

Why does it matter? “The longer food is in the danger zone, the higher the risk to your health,” Taylor said.

While some experts say there are at least a few ways to protect yourself, others avoid deliveries entirely. “I would not order food through a third-party delivery to be delivered to the home,” Darin Detwiler, a former FDA and USDA food safety adviser, recently told the Daily Mail. “It’s going to take longer to get there, and it’s probably not going to be kept at the right temperature.”

If you still want to order delivery, however, there are a few measures you can take.

Can you be sure that your food didn’t spend more than two hours in the danger zone? It might be hard to know, even if you have a food-safe thermometer at home, experts said.

“If someone really wants to determine the temperature of the food, then a thermometer is the only tool to use,” Le said. “There is really no way to tell how long a food has been at specific temperatures, but if it is already within the danger zone, then your best approximation is to use the delivery time to see how long it could have possibly been within that range.”

The experts also offered some practical tips to ensure your delivered food is handled correctly once it gets to you.

Order when it’s slow: “Avoid ordering during peak times, when deliveries may take longer, which means that food could be held in the danger zone for extended periods,” Taylor said.

Consider what you’re ordering: If you’re especially worried, do what Le does: “I don’t often use food delivery services, but when I do, I try to avoid ordering foods with the highest risk, such as rice, fried rice and salads.

Pick up pronto: Don’t let your food sit outside on the doorstep or at a doorman’s counter. “Bring it inside immediately,” Taylor said.

Wash up: “When your order arrives, always wash your hands before handling the food,” Taylor said. “Clean and sanitize the surfaces where you place or consume the food.”

Examine your order: Beyond checking that they remembered your extra servings of whoo-hoo sauce and triple pickles, you should make sure hot food feels hot and cold foods feel cold. Use your eyes and nose, too, Taylor said.

“Ensure that the food packaging is intact and that there are no signs of tampering or damage. If the food looks or smells off, throw it away and contact the restaurant,” he said.

Eat right away: “I always consume the food as soon as possible, since I don’t know how long it’s been since it left the restaurant,” Le said. “It’s hard to know how much time that food sat out, and at which temperatures, between the time of preparation and time of delivery.”

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Store leftovers: “If I have any leftovers, then I make sure to refrigerate them as soon as possible,” Le said.

University of Connecticut associate professor Dennis D’Amico, whose expertise includes food microbiology and safety, said that he doesn’t order from food delivery services, but does pick up takeout.

“I make sure I’m there before my scheduled time, in case the food is ready early,” he said. “For the drive home, I store my order in an insulated and closed bag or container. And of course we eat the food as soon as I arrive back home.”

“I would lean toward the safe side with a delivery service and always reheat cooked foods,” D’Amico said. “For example, I reheat meat and poultry dishes to an internal temperature of 165°F. If you’re reheating a liquid sauce or soup, heat them to a boil.”

“If you’re reheating in an oven, it should be set at 325°F. Microwave reheating can be tricky, due to uneven heating, so food should be covered and rotated and allowed to stand for a minute before checking the internal temperature.”

As more people order food for delivery, there’s an even greater chance that some safety requirements will slip through the cracks. And eating unsafe food often results in serious illness.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48 million Americans battle foodborne illnesses every year. Of that number, 128,000 wind up in the hospital and 3,000 die. Examples of bacterial, parasitic and viral infections caused by food include salmonella, toxoplasma, listeria and E.coli. The most common infection is from norovirus, which affects one in 15 people annually.

To avoid becoming one of those statistics, you need to be careful when cooking at home, when eating out — and also when you’re treating yourself to a meal delivery after a hard day.