Posted on 02/23/2024 10:31:03 PM PST by nickcarraway
Storing your rice correctly could save you from severe health issues.
Once again, TikTokers are freaking out that there's a hidden scourge in the kitchen: day-old rice. Fittingly for a controversy about leftovers, many claims are nearly a year old — but that isn't stopping people from resurfacing horror stories, claiming they got food poisoning from reheating rice that was left sitting out overnight.
"Being a med student means never being able to comfortably reheat rice ever again," second-year medical student Janny Garcia wrote in a viral TikTok post with more than a thousand comments. Another user — with a Ph.D. in microbiology — took to the platform to explain reheated rice syndrome, as the ailment is often referred to, saying: "Most things that are going to cause human disease have an optimal growing temperature between about 20°C [68°F] and 30°C [86°F] … so that means don't ever let your food that needs to be cooked sit out at room temperature. You don't want it to be at that level of temperature for any length of time."
But what's the truth?
Like many foods, uncooked rice contains a foodborne pathogen known as Bacillus cereus — or B. cereus — and these incredibly heat-resistant spores can survive even when rice is cooked. According to the USDA, the microorganism grows best between 39°F and 118°F but cannot germinate in the cold (or invade acidic foods). Beyond that, increased salinity helps it thrive.
What's the Actual Difference Between 'Use By' and 'Sell By' Anyway? When rice is left unrefrigerated, the spores can develop into bacteria that may cause stomach issues such as vomiting or diarrhea. The symptoms, while unpleasant, typically last no longer than 24 hours. But know that consuming B. cereus in low levels is not harmful.
However, rice that has been properly refrigerated can keep about four to six days, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And it shouldn’t be reheated more than once. In fact, reheating properly cooled rice could even be beneficial (especially for Type 2 diabetics and those with bowel diseases like Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis) because it’s considered a resistant starch.
Unlike traditional carbs, resistant starches function more like soluble, fermentable fiber — bypassing the stomach and small intestine undigested. This has several benefits: First, it “feeds” the good bacteria in your gut, allowing for a lower pH level and reducing inflammation. It also improves insulin sensitivity by diluting the digestible starches in any given meal, reducing insulin response and lowering the glycemic load.
For now, the reheated rice panic is still simmering, but understanding how to properly store such an important food staple should help rice lovers chill out.
I suppose putting it in the refrigerator is out of the question?
I’ve eaten re-heated rice for years.
I have reheated year old rice and eaten it....
Then in the first lines of their foolish TikTok post we find that it is not reheated rice that is the problem, but instead reheating food that has been left out on the counter overnight instead of properly storing it.
Reminds me of a nothing burger.
Health & Safety bump - Thanks. ;-)
Ditto. One of my staples is brown rice. I always have a big bowl of it in the fridge, takes me a week or more to eat it up. As soon as the bowl is empty, I cook some more. Been doing it for years.
Which is why I refuse to participate in any social media. In fact, I refuse to participate in the 21st century.
The people who do alert me to the people I don't want to have anything to do with.
Maybe they need to teach these med students what refrigerators are in their first year.
I also use the rice cooker for a bunch of brown rice and keep it several days. It’s so handy that way. Leaving it out on the counter for several days would be a different matter altogether.
Glad to read the part about resistant starch and its effects! I lost and kept off a lot of weight by eating that and other starches.
I've never met an American who left rice or spaghetti or scrambled eggs or anything out over night and then re-heated it to eat. The Chinese have refrigerators, right?
Resistant starch is very healthy and a way to improve the Glycemic Index of many foods. Considering how many people in the USA are overweight and obese, adding resistant starch is an important way to improve their health. Baked whole potatoes that are cooled and then warmed to be eaten another day are also a great way of increasing resistant starch.
Many times, a friend or family member - usually a Karen - has complained f food poisoning when I ate the exact same thing and didn’t get sick.
My rule is if it doesn’t look bad, smell bad or taste bad - I’ll eat it.
Never got food poisoning.
I do realize food poisoning exists. Once my boss’s wife made some kind of cheese cake dishes and handed them out on the holidays. I didn’t eat mine for some reason - everyone that did got violently sick.
There are mistakes you can make that are almost guaranteed to cause food poisoning - but I reheating rice all the time.
Any food that reaches room temperature decomposes by the minute
Glob-al warming affects unrefrigerated rice.
THATS WHY YOU BOIL RICE WITH AN ADDITION OF A FEW TABLESPOONS OF VINEGAR.
Cabron!
the best thing about a nothing burger...no one gets sick.
I’ve read about resident starches. Potato salad is much healthier than freshly cooked potatoes. Also, cook rice and pasta, but don’t eat it until it’s been refrigerated and then reheated.
Democrats think this applies to pre-cooked rice. Duh 😁
Some strains are harmful to humans and cause foodborne illness due to their spore-forming nature, while other strains can be beneficial as probiotics for animals, and even exhibit mutualism with certain plants.
B. cereus is responsible for a minority of foodborne illnesses (2–5%), causing severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Bacillus foodborne illnesses occur due to survival of the bacterial endospores when contaminated food is not, or is inadequately, cooked.
Cooking temperatures less than or equal to 100 °C (212 °F) allow some B. cereus spores to survive. This problem is compounded when food is then improperly refrigerated, allowing the endospores to germinate.
Cooked foods not meant for either immediate consumption or rapid cooling and refrigeration should be kept at temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F) or above 50 °C (122 °F). Germination and growth generally occur between 10 °C and 50 °C, though some strains can grow at low temperatures, and Bacillus cytotoxicus strains have been shown to grow at temperatures up to 52 °C (126 °F).
Bacterial growth results in production of enterotoxins, one of which is highly resistant to heat and acids (pH levels between 2 and 11); ingestion leads to two types of illness: diarrheal and emetic (vomiting) syndrome. The enterotoxins produced by B. cereus have beta-hemolytic activity.
Experiences related to health BUMP
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