Never Leave Leftover Rice Out…It Could Cause Serious Illness!

Never Leave Leftover Rice Out…It Could Cause Serious Illness!

You may think that when preparing food, all you need to do is cook it thoroughly and you can rest assured that it's safe. However, even

According to Benjamin Chapman, Food Safety Specialist from North Carolina State University, cooking rice doesn’t necessarily kill all the pathogens that may be lurking about. “The issue with rice,” he explained to me over email, “is that one pathogen, Bacillus cereus, is quite prevalent in dried rice (some sources say ubiquitous), likely as spores. The spores may survive cooking. If cooked rice is subsequently held at room temperature, the spores can come out of their protective form, germinate, and vegetative forms multiply. The cooked rice environment provides a lot of water and nutrients for growth. As a by-product of growth, they create a couple of toxins, including a heat-stable one.”

Though it’s unclear exactly how many cases of food poisoning Bacillus cereus is responsible for, one study estimated an incidence of 63,623 cases per year. Luckily, popping any leftover rice in the fridge after you’re done enjoying your dish should keep you safe. According to this article from Epidemiology and Infection, boiled rice should “either be kept hot” (above 63° C/145.4°F) or “cooled quickly and transferred to a refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking.”

Wow! We had no clue rice could be so dangerous, and we'll definitely be more careful with how we cook it and handle the leftovers from now on. This is just gross!

Article Source: Lifehacker

 





9 Comments

  1. Jan Anderson-Christiansen
    Jan Anderson-Christiansen April 20, 18:38

    Shala Christiansen

    Reply to this comment
  2. Jan Anderson-Christiansen
    Jan Anderson-Christiansen April 20, 18:42

    Chrissy Joy Christiansen

    Reply to this comment
  3. Sandy Bourrillion
    Sandy Bourrillion April 20, 18:58

    Weng Charron
    Good to know!

    Reply to this comment
  4. Melody Jeffers
    Melody Jeffers May 07, 07:00

    what about those poor countries where they eat a lot of rice and no refrigeration?

    Reply to this comment
  5. Rebecca Klawitter
    Rebecca Klawitter May 07, 11:02

    One person got sick and blamed the rice

    Reply to this comment
  6. Paula Kass
    Paula Kass July 26, 00:22

    food posioning

    Reply to this comment
  7. Wayne Famularo
    Wayne Famularo October 23, 03:39

    I mix any leftover rice with. Spaghetti sauce and eat it for lunch the next day.

    Reply to this comment
  8. balsamichawaii.com
    balsamichawaii.com October 23, 04:00

    absolutely could not agree more 🙂

    Reply to this comment
  9. balsamichawaii.com
    balsamichawaii.com October 23, 04:00

    I think posts about recipes are great

    Reply to this comment

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