Penny-pinching is a useful skill to have – many of us learned it from our parents, and many of us may find ourselves needing to cut costs again in uncertain times. One woman, however, felt that her mother took things too far for her sister’s wedding and came to Reddit to seek guidance. Had she been wrong for criticizing her mother when her cost-cutting move put wedding guests’ food safety on the line?

This story touches on more than just where we each draw the line when it comes to cost-saving techniques. It also involves questions of trust, respect, and whether one woman can decide to take a risk on food safety without consulting with guests or with the bride at whose wedding the food is being served. Read on to see what happened!

When the author’s mother packed up the leftover food from the open buffet at her wedding 8 months prior, she initially thought nothing of it

Image credits: 9_fingers_ (not the actual photo)

It was only at her sister’s recent wedding that she realized what her thrifty mother had really done with the leftovers that had been sitting out at her wedding!

Image credits: NomadSoul1 (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Tasty-Watercress-190

Commenters were nearly unanimously supportive of the author’s actions. Food safety is important and the mother’s actions had quite clearly crossed a few lines

The author – and the commenters who supported her – took issue with a few separate things. One was the fact that the mother decided to take this risk without informing anyone – not the bride or groom, not the guests, and not the author whose food was being reused.

The big one for many, of course, was the question of health and safety. Can frozen leftovers keep for 8 months? How long can food stay out before you freeze it? How long can the thawed food stay out before it goes bad?

Fortunately for us, there are agencies out there who create safety guidelines for situations like this. Here are a few key facts from the author’s story compared to guidelines from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service:

1. The bride’s mother’s assumption that the food would remain safe while frozen was not entirely without merit. “Food stored constantly at 0 °F will always be safe. Only the quality suffers with lengthy freezer storage.”

2. The bride’s mother served leftovers that had already been left out during the previous wedding. “Freshness and quality at the time of freezing affect the condition of frozen foods. If frozen at peak quality, thawed foods emerge tasting better than foods frozen near the end of their useful life. So freeze items you won’t use quickly sooner rather than later.”

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Image credits: fu zhichao (not the actual photo)

3. The thawed leftovers could have been just as dangerous as the day after the wedding 8 months ago. “Freezing to 0 °F inactivates any microbes — bacteria, yeasts and molds — present in food. Once thawed, however, these microbes can again become active, multiplying under the right conditions to levels that can lead to foodborne illness.”

4. We do not know how the food was thawed, but here’s what the USDA has to say: “Freshness and quality at the time of freezing affect the condition of frozen foods. If frozen at peak quality, thawed foods emerge tasting better than foods frozen near the end of their useful life. So freeze items you won’t use quickly sooner rather than later.”

Lastly, some commenters also pointed out that the author had intended to donate the food to a local homeless shelter immediately after her wedding. Instead of shocking and potentially sickening guests at a second wedding 8 months later, the food may have been a welcome surprise for people who were struggling to provide for themselves.

We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Do you think the author’s response was appropriate, or do you think she overreacted to her mother’s good intentions?

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