I am quite vigilant about what I eat and figure that, although rare, listeria infections need to happen to somebody and pretending that it won't be me seems somewhat wishful In my opinion, ingnorance is bliss until you are equipped with specific knowledge i.e. what you can and can't eat. Once you are, it is very difficult to go back and pretend you never heard the information. Flowerchild, very well said - I do share you opinions

On the whole re-heating front, I have a question that has bugged me from day one. No matter how much research I have done, I have never got an answer! According to the professionals, the rule for left-overs is to eat them within 12 - 24 (times seem to differ depending on sources) and to heat them until "piping hot". So this is what I have done for my entire pregnancy so far because I daren't tempt fate!

My question is: If listeria is killed by heating until piping hot, then why can't you keep left-overs for longer than the prescribed timeframe if you are going to heat it until piping hot anyway? Even if something is riddled with the listeria bacteria, would it all be killed if it is totally nuked?