Chef explains how long you should leave food out before it can become fatal

A chef has provided some vital information about how long you should leave food out before it might make you ill.

Obviously, this is a large concern for those within the food industry, nobody wants tales of food poisoning or worse circulating around their business, after all.

Here's his tip:

In the home, it’s just as important.

You still don’t want to be getting ill off your own cooking, do you?

Well, thankfully there’s a chef on TikTok who is here to teach us a golden rule from within the kitchens of the industry, and it just might save you some time in front of – or on – the toilet after eating something that's past the best.

Jon Kung, a Detroit-based chef with 1.7 million followers on TikTok, shared his tip for not getting food poisoning, describing it as ‘one sure-fire way of not being killed by your own food’.

TikTok/@jonkung

It’s called the 40-140-4 rule, and it basically uses axis of time and temperature to tell you whether you should eat some food or chuck it straight into the bin.

Jon explained: "I learned to follow the 40, 140, 4 rule.

“Basically it means if you let your food sit for four hours between the temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, you need to throw it out.

“That's what restaurants are told to do."

To convert that for a non-US audience, that means that food that has been sat out in temperatures between 4.4C and 60C for more than four hours need to get straight into the bin.

Jon further explained: "That is like a baseline for safety.

“Anything you do outside of that baseline is now a risk.

"If I ate a grilled chicken breast that was fully cooked that had been sitting on my countertop for six hours, will I immediately die? Probably not. Will I get sick? Maybe.

“But I'm a pretty healthy individual.

“If I were elderly, immune-compromised or very young that risk is higher.

“But for everyone, the longer you let that chicken sit there between 40 and 140 degrees, that risk goes up for everyone."

The video has since been viewed more than three million times, so hopefully loads of people are learning something about food hygiene, too.

The comments are full of people who agree with Jon, or are thankful that he’s offering up these nuggets of wisdom.

TikTok/@jonkung

"I have no idea how I'm still alive. My parents broke this rule every single day of my childhood," one person commented.

"I worked food service in my teens and learned this and it's been my rule of thumb for over 20 years now,” said another.

A third offered this warning: "I did this with pasta once years ago. the worst throw up/food poisoning I've experienced to this day"

So, if you don’t want to get ill, listen to the professionals.

Also, just eat the food within a reasonable time of it being ready and you’ve probably got a good chance of avoiding illness, so long as you cooked it correctly.