So yesterday evening I was really craving some rotisserie chicken. I was also craving a new toothbrush so I thought I'd head over to Tesco. When I checked out their precooked meal section, I saw a small crowd of people standing around looking at the table of wrapped chickens and fish and rice and whatnot, while a Tesco employee was slowly stickering on new prices. I figured it must be the end-of-day clearance sale, and happily picked up 109 baht worth of chicken for 54 baht.

When I was eating it, despite it being a bit cold, it did have a slightly awkward taste. It didn't taste off, or sour, or anything bad in particular... just... awkward.

I had completely forgotten everything I had learned about leaving cooked food out, and then it dawned on me this was probably a really bad idea.

No food poisoning yet, and i did finish the rest of the chicken, but I'm guessing I shouldn't do that again. Then again, all those eager Thais crowding around probably have done this a million times without consequence.

I would have stuck it in the microwave for 5 minutes and zapped the s**t out of it first.

this precooked food, my wife has gotten sick from it. personally, anytime i have eaten it, i thought it tasted bad. tesco/big c/etc

Seriously getting worried about chicken left out a couple hours in an air conditioned Tesco? I'm guessing you don't eat much street food. I don't worry about it and buy food from Tesco at the end of the day when it's on sale all the time. If you're really worried maybe heat it up again or put it in a dish your cooking. Also the Tesco chickens are usually dried out in my opinion, better to find a street place selling grilled chicken. It'll be freshly cooked too.

Seriously getting worried about chicken left out a couple hours in an air conditioned Tesco? I'm guessing you don't eat much street food. I don't worry about it and buy food from Tesco at the end of the day when it's on sale all the time. If you're really worried maybe heat it up again or put it in a dish your cooking. Also the Tesco chickens are usually dried out in my opinion, better to find a street place selling grilled chicken. It'll be freshly cooked too.

Couple hours? I'm pretty sure they're the same ones I see there at 9 in the morning, so that would be close to 12 hours. That said, I've eaten unrefrigerated pizza after 12 hours but that was in Canada where it's dry and cold and not as dangerous.

Depends on the vendor when it comes to street food. 90% it's fine because I'm eating there at a reasonable hour and the food turnover is pretty quick. The giant pots of ka moo or broth are constantly bubbling so they're no problem. The ones I try and avoid are kao gaeng places that just have twenty silver bowls /not/ on a burner, with hoards of flies partying on top.

Once I saw a shopper with a basket full of raw meats. These were not well packed (or she had torn the plastic wrap) and were dripping blood and meat juices. She did not know this and plonked that basket on the top edge of cooked food counter so that the liquids dripped dangerously close to the cooked food, probably onto the food itself. When she told the staff, they merely brought out a filthy looking rag and wiped the drips off the counter.

Same shopper was at the cashier. Juices still dripping. And onto the cashier's counter goes the basket, blood and juices! No worries, cashier wipes it down with another dirty looking rag and then invites me to put my shopping on the counter.

Does Tesco not train their staff on hygiene and cross contamination issues?