If I forget to follow some of the basic food safety rules, won't heating or reheating foods kill foodborne bacteria?

To be safe, always follow the 4 Cs of Food Safety rules when preparing, serving, and cooking foods. Proper heating and reheating will kill foodborne bacteria. However, some foodborne bacteria produce poisons or toxins that are not destroyed by high cooking temperatures if the food is left out at room temperature for an extended period of time. An example is the foodborne bacteria Staphylococcus. This bacterium produces a toxin that can develop in cooked foods that sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.