Apparently food only rots when you are actively in a house. I sold my house and moved into a new house. In the process of moving, one of my sims left behind a cooking in process and they moved into the new house. I did not notice the left behind food or it may have bothered me.
So then I repurchased that home as an additional property 4-6 sim weeks later and upon returning to the house I noticed the food left on the counter. It was as good as new. I instructed my sim to cook the food, which turned out to be waffles, and he cooked them and ate them. They were as good as new.