Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm' @real.lemmy.fan ByteOnBikes @slrpnk.net 3mo ago

20-Year-Old Dies From 'Fried Rice Syndrome' After Eating Leftover Pasta

www.iheart.com 20-Year-Old Dies From 'Fried Rice Syndrome' After Eating Leftover Pasta | iHeart

His story can serve as a warning to others to be careful with their leftovers. | iHeart

Ripped parts of the post:

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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183 comments

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
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 😱😱😱
Honestly 5 days out on the counter was asking for trouble - that long is tempting fate even when stored properly in the fridge
5 days ON THE COUNTER?! And it tasted off, and he consumed it anyway.

This is so stupid that it has to be intentional suicide.
I just realised ... The bacteria is ... Seriously ... Called B. Cereus?
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.
5 days without putting it in the fridge? Hell at 5 days I'd even freeze it.
It’s almost like the scientists who named this bacteria knew this would happen.

You can’t… B. Cereus
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.

Five day old spaghetti sitting on a warm counter? Eww.

I thought he made a pasta dish, and the kept eating that. What the hell, making the spaghetti is the easiest bit and barely take a longer than microwaving some disgusting old pasta.

RIP this guy but I feel like we didn't necessarily lose one of our sharpest minds.
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.
This thread is interesting. Everywhere ranging from "I eat pizza from the counter after 3 days" to "yeah I would never eat anything left out on the counter for over 2 hours".

And someone said everything in their fridge is food they cooked over 5 days ago.... Why??
Shoot I'll leave rice on the counter all day sometimes... I should stop doing that.
Again?!

Edit: oops no. Same guy. I think about this all the time. Like...who raised him to leave pasta on the counter and then eat it?! The sheer ignorance baffles me.
Im astounded at the speed that this can kill.

If I’m reading the article correctly, it was <24 hrs? God damn.
B. Cereus is no joke!
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??
OK, so we can set the benchmark for danger at 5 days of room temperature.

Thanks random test subject. And RIP.
Missed opportunity for "the next day he woke up dead."
Ive been told you MUST let rice cool on the counter before putting it in the fridge. My brother in Christ, that's how you die.
That shits why I microwave leftovers.

(And dont leave it out on the counter for a week).
Hell yeah chubbyemu
unsure if same student but story I knew of was he accidently left 1 container out, and the pther person he loved with saw it in the counter and not realising how long it had been out it in the fridge where it sat like a ticking time bomb till he ate that particular container.

Article seems to regurgitate that story with the details incorrect.

183 comments