It’s tempting: that piece of takeaway pizza or homemade spaghetti Bolognese you devoured an hour ago.

It will taste even better at room temperature, right? Or after a night in the fridge?

Wrong. That tasty morsel could make you very ill.

Food Safety Information Council Chair Rachelle Williams says 4.1 million Australians get food poisoning each year, and you don’t want to be one.

“Is it safe to eat leftover food? It depends what you have done with it beforehand,” Ms Williams told The New Daily.

“We need to work out where the leftover food came from.”

Leftover takeaway food

If you’ve got left over pizza, Chinese food or any other takeaway, here is what to do.

“As soon as you can, put leftovers into a container, not in the pizza box or what the food came in,” Ms Williams said.

Rice and noodles need to be stored in shallow containers. Photo: Getty

“Put the container – with a lid on – into the fridge and it will be fine there for a few days.”

But if saving rice, pasta or noodles use a shallow container.

“Deep containers don’t cool well which means the food in the middle might not reach less than five degrees in a time that will stop the slow growth of bacteria,” Ms Williams said.

When reheating it is imperative you heat the food until it is steaming and hot to the touch – not lukewarm. Use a microwave, oven or pan.

“Fridges don’t stop bacteria growing, it simply slows them down. The only way to stop bacteria growing is to freeze it or cooking it hot,” Ms Williams said.

Food you cooked at home

If there is leftover bolognese sauce or curry or anything else you might have cooked, get it into the fridge as soon as you can.

Let the leftover food release its steam. Photo: Getty

But before you do, put it into a shallow container – with the lid on three quarters of the way – and let the steam disappear.

Once the steam is gone, seal it and put it into the fridge – even if it’s still warm.

“If you put the lid directly onto the hot food then any bacteria on the lid will drip back onto the food as the steam and condensation hits the lid,” Ms Williams said.

She also adviced against leaving the food sitting on the bench for an extended period of time.

Don’t eat food straight from the fridge

Resist the temptation to eat cold or room temperature pizza. Photo: Getty

It’s too risky.

“It’s better to reheat it. Bacteria still grows in the fridge – it will still be there,” Ms Williams said.

A few other no-nos?

Never reheat food twice and never reheat something, then put it back in the fridge straight away.

And remember to avoid the ‘danger zone’: “bacteria grows between 5C and 60C – that’s the ideal temperature for food poisoning bacteria,” she said.