About Safe to Eat?
Consumer food-safety information for common household situations.
Safe to Eat? is a consumer food-safety information website designed to help people answer common questions about food handling at home. The checker uses deterministic rules based on published guidance from official food-safety authorities. It does not use AI to decide whether a food is safe.
What the checker covers
The checker currently covers cooked food left out after cooking, chilled food left out after refrigeration, chilled picnic and buffet food, use-by and best-before dates, fridge storage, reheating leftovers, defrosting, and special handling for cooked rice.
A limited US guidance version is now available for supported left-out cooked or perishable foods. Additional US checker categories are being added separately.
How decisions are made
You select a situation and answer the relevant questions. The checker routes those answers through explicit rules, and the applicable rule determines the verdict. The decision explanation shows the source and basis used. England, Wales and Northern Ireland use Food Standards Agency guidance; Scotland uses Food Standards Scotland guidance.
What the checker does not do
It cannot inspect food physically, test for bacteria or toxins, replace professional or medical advice, guarantee safety in every individual situation, or cover every possible food and handling scenario. Read the methodology, official sources, and disclaimer for more detail.
Why the site exists
Safe to Eat? was created to make official food-safety guidance easier to apply to common household situations.
Contact
For general website questions, feedback or corrections, email contact@safetoeat.uk.