Cooking vs Mircoogansim

Won't cooking kill bacteria?

Cooking food to 160 degrees Fahrenheit will kill most bacteria. Some meats need to be even hotter -- for example, all poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. (Don't guess by the color; use a meat thermometer.) But if the food has been at room temperature for more than two hours, bacteria may have accumulated to dangerous levels and formed heat-resistant toxins that cannot be killed by cooking. Even cooked food can become contaminated this way, so get those leftovers into the fridge as soon as you can.