Life of people these days is on the go. With an overburdened lifestyle people prefer to eat processed food over cooking, to steal some time from their wrapped up lives. Sometimes we bite more than we can chew even if it’s pizza. Most of the time we don’t have an option but to swallow however in the case of pizza we can store it into the fridge. And that makes us think how long pizza last in the fridge?
More than 90% of the world’s population enjoys junk food, pizza is among the most preferred of all. Each year more than 5 billions pizzas are sold worldwide and approximately 350 slices are eaten each second. Believe it or not but the pizza market makes billions of dollars of profit every year. So we do accept that we love pizza and it is not possible to eat a giant sized pizza in one go.
PIZZA AND US
Pizza is said to have originated in Italy. Although some people believe that Egyptians, Romans and Greeks used to consume flat bread with some kind of toppings giving pizza its initial shape. The people who love pizza the most are Americans and it is said that pizza became popular in America after world war 2. Whatever forces they were, we are glad to have pizza among us. From Europe to every other continent it didn’t take much time for this delicious food to reach our kitchens. Pizza in this day and age comes in almost every possible topping giving people a plethora of flavors making them even more popular.
WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE PIZZA?
Well a simple answer to this can be – “it’s delicious” and this can’t be denied. However the human tongue is indeed inclined towards fatty, rich and sweet edibles and pizza is the profusion of these. Another compound that plays a major role is glutamate. Glutamate tells our brain to get excited and crave for more of it, when it hits our tongue. Tomato, cheese, pepperoni and sausage are rich sources of glutamate that contribute to a major amount of ingredients of pizza. The glutamate also makes our mouth watery in anticipation of the next bite. There are also some flavor enhancers used to trick our brains and make us fall in love with pizza.
WHAT CAUSES SPOILAGE OF PIZZA?
Bacteria and fungi are the microbes that love pizza as much as we do. Fungi like molds are quite common in our kitchen. When you leave the bread at your kitchen counter for many days you see a greenish- brown layer on your bread that is mold. These bacteria and fungi like to live in warm, moist places and they often secret toxins like botulism toxin that causes food poisoning.
HOW LONG PIZZA LAST IN THE FRIDGE?
To put it bluntly, 3 to 4 days. As per the US department of agriculture, it is not advised to eat perishable food including pizza if left overnight at room temperature. It is okay if you forgot to keep your pizza in the fridge and left it on your kitchen counter for a few hours. That much time is not enough for the bacteria to attack on your pizza but if you left it at room temperature for a longer duration throw it away.
How long pizza last in the fridge this question would have not made any sense when there was no fridge. Back in those days people used to dry the perishable food items and store them. Excessive heating and removing moisture from the food make the food resistant to bacteria or fungi. This process is also used to preserve canned food. When it comes to pizza you can’t simply dry it out or heat. Although reheating pizza in the microwave will kill the microbes but it won’t affect the toxic which has already been released in your pizza, also drying will debase the taste of pizza. If you will store the pizza leftover in the fridge it will last for at least four days. Keeping it in the fridge will prevent the microbes from growing but it will gradually result in degrading the taste.
One more thing to keep in mind is that it is of no use to keep a pizza in the fridge once the bacteria and fungi have already started to spoil it. It may stop the growth of the microbes putting them in dormant phase but as soon as they are exposed to the normal temperature they will resume to grow.
CONCLUSION
Millions of people, every year get sick due to food poisoning. It is better to eat fresh food but now since you know how long pizza last in the fridge you can definitely store it for some time. But remember once the food starts to spoil there is no turning back it is wise to throw it away.
