system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does a food ingredient, such as cream or fruit, stay edible in a recipe after being used/cooked, yet when left alone that ingredient is spoiled faster than the recipe itself?
gpt
When you cook it, the preparation -- usually the application of heat -- kills most of the bacteria that are currently on it. That means the bacteria need time to regroup and increase their numbers back to the level where they can make the food spoil, which takes time.