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.
Me too. It’s called fried rice which should be made with cold rice that has dried out a bit. Just last night I made extra rice just so I would have left overs for fried rice.
We don’t eat a lot of rice, but I cook a big batch of brown rice and then freeze the leftovers. It freezes beautifully.
Possibly. Just freeze the leftovers (preferably in a vac sealed bag) and then nuke it before serving. I do it whenever there is leftover rice.
Now we know why Hambone’s wife was in the kitchen.
Sorry to be more than a bit off-center in my entry, can't let the farm team down.
Eat More Rice! Eat More Beef!
putting it in the refrigerator is out of the question?
Be serious! (Bacterial pun intended). Why spoil a good panic situation with Common Sense ? 🤭
“Rice is bad, we’re all going to die…..it’s not the egg foo young you left out for the cat to nibble on.”.
I suspect if someone on TikTok ever posted “Suicide is fun” the result would be devastating.
What a bunch of nonsense this is. Another “social media” fairy tale.
What about pizza? Okay to leave out over night? Hope so.
We leave rice in the rice cooker overnight on warm and feel free to eat it the next day. Never had a problem. But then, I also refuse to cook - incinerate - my hamburgers to 160+ degrees. And have never been sick after eating one.
Oooooh, a med student. How impressive. What a TWOT.
You find the most interesting topics.
More rice for China! Seriously.
Due to a temporary shortage of rice I got introduced to jasmine and brown jasmine rice. I now buy it all the time.
That’s a very common choice in the Middle East too.
The preppers claim that brown rice doesn’t keep well, but I buy 50 lbs at a time and store it in buckets for as much as two years. It has more insoluble fiber, which at my age is a big plus.
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