Something I've noticed is that while Japanese people are usually pretty cautious about food safety, it's very common for Japanese people both at home and in restaurants and supermarkets to just leave food out for hours at room temperature.
I'm from the US where the government strongly urges a "danger zone" of 40 °F to 140 °F (4 °C to 60 °C) where food should not be held for more than two hours. I worked at a supermarket where if any prepared foods sat in this range for a certain amount of time, they would have to be thrown away.
However, in Japan in the supermarket you frequently see bento, onigiri and fried foods kept at room temperature for several hours without a care in the world. No refrigeration, no heat lamps.
Also, Japanese people often will leave prepared foods out overnight without putting them in the refrigerator.
I'm guessing that the main conclusion to draw from this is that the FDA's "danger zone" is overkill. But even if it is, why is it so uncommon for people here to get sick from food that's been left out?
by razorbeamz