Thank you, everyone! I forgot the second step of posting last night. This was my reply to Lindalou: No, it was not cold at all. Now I am hoping I don't get sick from what I already ate before I noticed the fridge problem. OR the swig of spoiled carrot juice that alerted me. Luckily there is very little immediately-perishable food in that fridge -- it is mostly seeds, lotions, produce, cheese, stuff like that. Oh, dang, the figs are probably moldy. >Some food borne illnesses can take weeks to incubate in your gut. Can you tell me more about these, so I know what to watch out for? Or just names and I can google :). -- After I went to bed, I remembered I had also eaten fish oil and clam juice out of there. Scary! I had some kind of histamine response last night -- burning pain all over-- which decreased some when I took a prescription dose anti-inflammatory. It's still with me now, though. The pain kept me awake most of the night. It's like what I get when I eat gluten, but without the other symptoms. But there was no gluten. My immune system just does not like something in that stew of microbial toxins I ingested with my meals yesterday :/. No barfing or other GI stuff though, which I guess is good. Today's project: Throw out, clean out, move frozen foods out, thaw fridge overnight and see if that cures it or if I need a new fridge.

My decision would, in part, depend on your kitchen. Is it 90F? If so, i'd toss it. 50F? Probably not. The USDA says 2 hours at any temperature over 40F and you should throw it out. They also say never cook beef less than 145F, and I ignore that completely. So. the answer is tht it's up to you. The USDA says toss it. I wouldn't hesitate to make stock with it. The risk level you are comfortable with is entirely up to you. Annie

Absolutely....it's fine....the meat was cured, the water and the beans boiled, no one was entering bacteria into the pot with a spoon or fingers.... Don't even think another thing about it! Linda C

ETA, we cross posted. They're probably fine if commercially produced. Sometimes there's a good seal that just doesn't pop. Still, if you're worried, don't take the chance. -------------- Don't green olives have a special kind of processing with caustic chemicals? I wouldn't consume them without a label. If there's a label with the name of the people who made them, I'd look them up online and call. The olives may have been commercially produced and just jarred in the vinegar, etc., by the vendor, at which point they should be fine if they seem "fresh", but there's no way of knowing without at least talking to them. It's not worth the risk if you really don't know who made them and how.