Things made with commercial mayo are just fine. There's plenty of acid in the mayo. Your salads were still perfectly safe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mayo safety

I would have used it again too.

Me too, I would continue to use it. I read it somewhere that 2 hours at room temperature was the max time recommended for mayo. In the fridge, I use the dish until the mayo starts to separate and get watery. Then, straight to the thrash it goes.

When it comes to food, it's always better to be safe rather than sorry. For potato salad, I will only keep it 2-3 days, IF it hasn't sat out at room temp for any length of time. Sitting out for an hour? I'd have pitched it rather than put it back in the fridge.

I find it's best to put out small amounts of food, and then refill the serving dish as needed, so you keep the 'reserve' cold.

And I HAVE had food poisoning from commercially prepared salad dressing--not something you want to chance.

The bottom line is this--what if you make a mistake? If you make a mistake and toss out food that's still good, no harm, no foul, all you're out is a few $$$. If you make a mistake and eat something that's already 'gone over'--well, that's the mistake you don't want to make--it could be a whole lot more costly, in many ways, than throwing out a bowl of salad.

I usually use the 2 hour rule. Refrigerated food can be out of the fridge for a total of 2 hours tops. (If it was out an hour yesterday, it can only be out an hour today... if you had travel time of a half hour that counts too, etc...)

If it's outside and hot, I toss it regardless. I also toss stuff that many people get into or that may be cross contaminated. I never put out an entire jar of Mayo; I put a little in a bowl and toss what's left over.

With everything, there's always other things to consider. When was the egg salad originally made? Did you make it or buy it? If bought or you used Mayo, was the expiration date closer to May 3 or Sept 3rd? How hot/cold was the room it sat out in? Are you pregnant or have stomach or other health issues?

If in doubt, I always toss. It's not worth getting sick over.

It's been reported over and over that mayo is not the big concern in potato salad, it's the potatoes and eggs that are the concern. Most mayo has enough preservatives in it that there isn't a problem caused by commercial mayo.

The other concern is refrigerator temperature. Many people don't keep their refrigerators cool enough. And if you have the food in the shape of a ball, it takes a long time to cool down which causes trouble too.

I've always heard that mayo is very safe, until you mix it with a protein, like egg or meat.

I love egg salad, but I won't eat it if it's more than one day old, if it starts to get a stronger sulfurous odor and I don't even want to eat it. Even just a boiled egg- if it's stinking up the fridge, forget it.

I am very cautious, though, about food, having had food poisoning before. I don't ever want to have it again, so I won't eat prepared things that have been around for more than a day or two. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks, all. This was 'store-bought' (Foodstuffs). It had hard-boiled egg in it, and of course, mayo. It was very cold when I brought it home (5 minutes door to fridge).

I think I'll continue to serve foods like this only ONE TIME...then out she goes! (I couldn't really offer only a skimpy amount to guests.)