this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2024
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Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm'

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The bacteria is best known for causing a type of food poisoning called "Fried Rice Syndrome," since rice is sometimes cooked and left to cool at room temperature for a few hours. During that time, the bacteria can contaminate it and grow. B. cereus is especially dangerous because it produces a toxin in rice and other starchy foods that is heat resistant and may not die when the food it infects is cooked.

And

Unfortunately, that was the case for a 20-year-old student, who passed away after eating five-day-old pasta.

His story was described in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology a few years back, but has since resurfaced due to some YouTube videos and Reddit posts. According to article, every Sunday the student would make his meals for the entire week so he wouldn't need to deal with making it on the weekdays. One Sunday, he cooked up some spaghetti, then put it in Tupperware containers so that days later, he could just add some sauce to it, reheat it and enjoy it.

However, he didn't store the pasta in the fridge, rather he left it out on the counter. After five days of the food sitting out at room temperature, he heated some up and ate it. While he noticed an odd taste to the food, he figured it was just due to the new tomato sauce he added to it.

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[–] cordlesslamp@lemmy.today 0 points 1 month ago (6 children)

I'm trying to sympathy for the victim but I just can't.

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[–] randombullet@programming.dev 0 points 1 month ago (3 children)

5 days without putting it into the fridge? That's asking for trouble.

I feel comfortable about 2-4 hours without a fridge, but I've occasionally left rice out 12 hours a few times with no issues. Same with pasta.

[–] shinratdr@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Cooked stuff is borderline if it spends 5 days in the fridge. 5 days NOT in the fridge is insanity.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] shinratdr@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 month ago (9 children)

I know you CAN eat 5 day old stuff out of the fridge, but it’s at the point where I would be suspicious, depending on the item.

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[–] quixotic120@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

4 hours max in the zone between 40 and 140F is the general guideline for risk. There are a lot of nuances to it like how pasteurization and sous vide cooking work but in general that’s a good rule of thumb

[–] Doom@ttrpg.network 0 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Also to note that's only if you're gonna continue to store it.

Food left out for more than four hours is safe to consume like pizza but if you're not gonna finish it, trash it at that point you cannot store it anymore.

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 month ago

We had a rule where if you left pizza out for 24 hours, it's still good if you're willing to have diarrhea butt.

After 48 hours, it's still good if you're willing to vomit.

In college, definitely had people who took those risks.

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[–] Sumocat@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Terrible headline. The bacteria that killed him is associated with ‘Fried Rice Syndrome’ but FRS is named for leftovers stored in the fridge, not uneaten food left on the counter.

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I agree. It rubbed me the wrong way and even felt a bit racist.

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[–] fraksken@infosec.pub 0 points 1 month ago (5 children)

I just realised ... The bacteria is ... Seriously ... Called B. Cereus?

[–] goldteeth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 month ago

I am serious, and don't call me bacteria.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The specific name, cereus, meaning "waxy" in Latin, refers to the appearance of colonies grown on blood agar.

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[–] reddit_sux@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (3 children)

The name's Cereus, Bacillus Cereus

Why so Cereus?

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[–] The_v@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (3 children)
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[–] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 month ago (40 children)

This made me really anxious about how long I tend to leave food out up until the moment I read that he left it out on the counter FOR FIVE DAYS

[–] dhhyfddehhfyy4673@fedia.io 0 points 1 month ago

Same lol. 5 days is absolutely insane.

[–] Skoobie@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yup. This exactly. After 2, and I feel like I shouldn't even go that far lol, I toss out. Safe than sorry and all that.

[–] Albbi@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

You'd eat food that's been sitting on the counter for 2 days? Maaaybe 2 hours.

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[–] capt_wolf@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (9 children)

Never fails to amaze me how so many people don't understand basic food storage.

My clients, constantly: "What do you mean I can't just throw this open bag in the fridge?", "What do you mean, 'foil isn't airtight'?", "I don't know how long it's been in there! What do you mean it expired a month ago?" and my absolute favorite, "You can't throw my moldy food away! You owe me money for that!"

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[–] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It was a bit of an anxiety ride for me as well, being a frequent rice and pasta consumer.

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I’d think pasta and rice would be a little bland together.

[–] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

If you haven't had pasta fried rice, you have lived an easier life than I.

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

5 days without putting it in the fridge? Hell at 5 days I'd even freeze it.

[–] Im_old@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I was doing something similar and even in the fridge at day 5 I could taste that it was borderline ok. At 5 days on the counter it must have tasted so fermented it was bubbling.

Pasta and kimchi all in one.

[–] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

"That's flavor patina."

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I wonder if it was like closed with a lid and wet or if it was kinda open an dry. Either way, after 5 days I would not eat either one. Fucking yuck!

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[–] Ledivin@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (4 children)

5 days out of the fridge - even sealed - is straight insanity. Of course he got sick eventually, I'm just surprised it took so long 😱😱😱

[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm surprised it wasn't visibly mouldy at that point

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The article says he stored it in Tupperware. Spaghetti in an airtight container, like rice and other carbs, take a lot longer to show signs of mold. So maybe not in the first week. But absolutely after a month!

And for anybody curious who wants to try the science: reminder that if you see visible mold, it's already too late. The spores are deep in the food and what's visible is just a fraction of the fungus!

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Especially sealed, it would probably just have dried up otherwise and been crunchy but ok.

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[–] grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

5 days??? Yikes. I feel uncomfortable if I leave food out for an hour just to let it cool down. I'll admit I've done some stupid stuff with leaving food out in my younger years (pizza left in the box on the counter for 2-3 days; one time while deployed to Iraq I stupidly thought the floor of our trailer would remain cool enough to keep an open can of chip dip fresh -- Newsflash: It did not), but 5 days??

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've have food out frequently for like half a day / overnight but 5 days sounds absolutely insane to me. I don't even want to know how the noodles must've looked like, probably already smelled at that point too. Makes me queasy just thinking about eating that...

[–] grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Right!? On the one hand I feel like this guy was a dumb-dumb, but on the other hand, maybe he was never taught proper food safety, or maybe this was his first time living alone and cooking for himself and he just didn't know any better. Sad way to die either way.

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 month ago

I'm a stupid person and honestly I believed that if you microwaved anything long enough, it'll kill the bad germs. it made sense: radio waves === kill zone.

Then a microbiologist explained to me that you're just killing the living organisms, not the toxic waste they leave behind which is still on the food. I was in my 30s when I learned that.

I can only imagine what other weird shit people believe because nobody ever said anything and they just put 2+2 together.

[–] Brekky@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Honest question. What do you do with pizza if you still have leftovers on day 3+? I feel odd putting bread in the fridge.

[–] grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

I would freeze it

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[–] capital@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (10 children)

Im astounded at the speed that this can kill.

If I’m reading the article correctly, it was <24 hrs? God damn.

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[–] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 0 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Honestly 5 days out on the counter was asking for trouble - that long is tempting fate even when stored properly in the fridge

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