How long can food sit in hot car

There are a variety of reasons why you might bring food in your car. Maybe you just went grocery shopping to stock up for the week, or maybe you’re getting ready for a weekend road trip. Perhaps you’re heading home and have a take-out bag from the restaurant. Regardless of the reason, it’s important to know about food safety when driving in your car, especially in hot weather.

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A car’s temperature
Food safety in cars with and without air conditioning
Foods can actually damage your car
Bottom line

As more people are cooking meals from home and traveling, it’s important to learn about food safety. “Food safety is especially important if there are any children under 5 years of age, pregnant women, adults over 65 years of age or anyone with medical conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, living in your household,” Lauri Wright, PhD, RDN, Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Chair of the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics at the University of North Florida, tells Reader’s Digest. “To keep food safe, we need to avoid the ‘danger zone.’ Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 °F and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes.” Make sure you know these 9 food safety mistakes you’re making.

A car’s temperature

You might be surprised at how hot an unairconditioned car can get in some parts of the country throughout the year. “During the summer months, the interior of a closed-up vehicle can easily reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit here on the east coast,” John Burkhauser, an auto repair specialist and director of educational programs at Bolt On Technology, tells Reader’s Digest. “In other sections of the country where the ambient temperature gets as high as 115 degrees, the interior temperature can go even higher.”

That means your food is going to get really hot, really fast. “In reality, no foods should be exposed to these temperatures for long because the food itself is not only the problem, the container or wrapping of the food usually is not designed to withstand these temperatures and may also interact with the food,” explains Burkhauser. This also explains why plastic water bottles have expiration dates.

In general, foods should be in coolers and hot food should be kept hot. “Place cold food in coolers with frozen gel packs or ice. Stashing it at 40°F or below prevents bacterial growth,” says Wright. “Consider packing beverages in one cooler and perishable foods in another since you are likely to grab beverages most often. Sliced fruit and veggies, hummus, guacamole, and yogurt are good snacks to store in the cooler.” To keep hot foods hot, Wright recommends passing on hot food except for cases where there’s a portable heating unit that can be safely used.

Burkhauser adds that foods that are less vulnerable to high temperatures like energy bars, beef jerky, and nuts should be added to coolers as well.

Food safety in cars with and without air conditioning

Even though it might seem common practice to leave food out in the car, it’s something that should be discouraged. Wright says that foods can reach the “danger zone” for bacterial growth quickly in unairconditioned cars. “Perishable foods like dairy and salads containing mayonnaise are especially dangerous and should be avoided. The opposite is true for hot foods in an air-conditioned car. Meat can be especially dangerous so should be avoided.”

Food safety applies to all foods, regardless of whether it’s fresh or frozen. Air conditioning doesn’t preserve or keep food cool, either. “Even if the air conditioning in a vehicle is working perfectly, the temperature of the air coming out of the vents usually is above freezing so frozen food should not be left in the vehicle for long with the AC on,” says Burkhauser. Burkhauser adds that drivers should be careful of sunlight entering the car since it can warm up anything in its light.

If you’re going for a long drive, you’re probably going to be hungry while on the road. “Frozen and perishables should not be brought along on long trips unless you want to have one more thing to worry about such as getting ice to keep these things cold,” says Burkhauser. If you’re planning a road trip, here are the best road trip snacks to bring with you.

Foods can actually damage your car

It’s not only food safety that’s an issue, but any food leftovers that you find as a surprise after the fact. “Yes, any food left in a hot vehicle over time will at least make it stink,” says Burkhauser. “Of course, frozen foods will run as they thaw making a sticky mess. With open USB ports and the like, any food that should melt and seep into them will cause connection issues.” If you’ve ever reached for your coffee in the cup holder and made a sudden stop, you know what happens next. “Coffee and soda left in the center console by the transmission shifter can get spilled into it causing issues with getting it in and out of gear,” adds Burkhauser. Eating in your car isn’t a great idea anyway and is one of the things you’re probably doing in your car, but shouldn’t.

Bottom line

If you’re still tempted to bring food with you and leave it in the car, time your journey. “Don’t eat food if it has been in the car more than 2 hours,” Wright says, “1 hour if the temperature is over 90 degrees.” She adds that you should avoid milk-beverages if they aren’t stored in a cooler. However, there are a few non-perishable snacks that you can have: whole or dried fruit, freeze-dried vegetables, trail mix, and whole-grain snack bars. Next, make sure you know these 15 road trip planning tips you need before you go.
Sources:

Lauri Wright, PhD, RDN, Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Chair of the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics at the University of North Florida
John Burkhauser, an auto repair specialist and director of educational programs at Bolt On Technology

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Thomas Winz/Getty Images

Milles Studio/Shutterstock

Originally Published: September 25, 2020

Austin traffic plus hot afternoons plus a car full of groceries is a situation that many of us find ourselves troubleshooting during the summer months.

How long can you leave groceries in the car? It depends what’s in the bags, but for perishables, no more than an hour on a really hot day. Addie Broyles / American-Statesman

I reached out to the H-E-B Curbside team to find out how they answer questions like:

If I stop for groceries on the way to pick up the kids, do I have enough time to go by the library before the ice cream melts or the lunch meat spoils?
Raw chicken breasts are on sale at a store near where I work in Austin, but I live in Kyle. Do I need an insulated bag to make it home with them safely?
Should I store bottles of wine in the backseat, where they might be exposed to the sun, or in the trunk, where the temperatures might be higher?

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Bacteria love warmth, moisture and nutrients, and a hot car with bags of groceries provides just that. Foods that require refrigeration are the top priority for keeping cool. Frozen foods are a concern, too, but you have less time with refrigerated meats and fresh produce, which can harbor the rapid growth of dangerous bacteria if you’re not careful.

When sacking your groceries, make sure to store the perishable foods together, as well as the meats and frozen foods in their own respective bags. MARLON SORTO / AHORA SI

According to food safety experts at H-E-B, perishable food can stay safely unrefrigerated for two hours if the air temperature is under 90 degrees and only for one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees or higher. This is true for foods transported in a car or bag or when you’re having a picnic or a barbecue outside.

You don’t need to worry about shelf-stable foods unless they have an element that could melt in the heat, such as chocolate chips in granola bars or trail mix, but you do need to take extra care with meat, deli, dairy, fresh fruit, frozen foods and prepared dishes, including rotisserie chicken, pasta salad or ready-to-bake pizzas. Treat restaurant leftovers with care, too, keeping them refrigerated and not in a warm car for more than 30 minutes or an hour at most.

Here are some other tips to keep in mind:

Try to plan your trips so that you are going straight home from the store. If you have to make another stop, keep it at less than 15 minutes so your total time en route isn’t more than 30 minutes or, at most, an hour.
Be aware of the type of food you’re buying, and adjust accordingly if you have errands to run. Stop at the cleaners or for coffee before grocery shopping, not afterward when your groceries will be baking in the car.
If you have to stop somewhere, park in the shade or keep groceries out of direct sunlight. Wine should never be exposed to direct sunlight, so make sure the bottles or bags with other perishables are covered with a towel or other form of shade.
When buying foods that melt quickly, such as ice cream, consider putting the bag or food in a cooler with ice packs.
Don’t leave your cooler in the car, however, because it will hold and release heat, even with cold gel packs in the bottom. You could buy a bag of ice to put in the cooler if you have an extra-long trip ahead of you. Insulated bags are the next best thing to coolers, and they don’t hold as much heat if left in your car before shopping.
If you’re helping to bag your own groceries, keep in mind what the grocery store employees are already trained to do: Store like foods together. Perishable foods belong in a bag with other perishable foods so they help keep each other cool on the way home. Keep meats and frozen foods in their own respective bags.
Put groceries away as soon as you get home. After 45 minutes in the car, another 30 minutes on the counter won’t do your perishables any favors. They might not make you sick, but some foods, such as milk, might expire more quickly if not handled properly.