Hi There!

I am so grateful this forum exists! For many reasons...

This is my first post and I am curious to hear other's perspectives. I bought a 12 oz. package of small organic carrots from Trader Joes. It was together with the other veggies that were all packaged in the typical cooler section but it wasn't inside a special closed refrigerated super-cold closet. On the package, it says "Perishable - keep refrigerated." Normally I would simply stick it in fridge as I emptied out my grocery bags after coming home. But I got distracted this time and when I looked, I saw I had accidentally left this small package on the counter instead of the refrigerator as per normal.

I am guessing it might have been as long as 3 or 4 hours it was sitting on my kitchen counter before I saw it. I felt the bag and it wasn't warm but it wasn't as cool as normal if I put it immediately in fridge-- kinda in-between normal room temp and refrigerated cold. I immediately put it in refrigerator where it has remained for a few days now.

All I am hoping for now is to hear other's opinions on whether it is safe or not to eat at this point or whether to be on the safe side, better to throw out in garbage. I don't want to risk getting some sort of un-healthy bacteria. If this was chicken or fish, I would just throw it out. But I don't know about how this health concern would be with *veggies*???

Looking forward to hearing your replies!



Appreciatively,

Craig