this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2024
419 points (96.5% liked)

Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm'

973 readers
188 users here now

Rules:

  1. News must be from a reliable source. No tabloids or sensationalism, please.

  2. Try to keep it safe for work. Contact a moderator before posting if you have any doubts.

  3. Titles of articles must remain unchanged; however extraneous information like "Watch:" or "Look:" can be removed. Titles with trailing, non-relevant information can also be edited so long as the headline's intent remains intact.

  4. Be nice. If you've got nothing positive to say, don't say it.

Violators will be banned at mod's discretion.

Communities We Like:

-Not the Onion

-And finally...

founded 11 months ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

(page 6) 8 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 118 points 2 months ago (6 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 😱😱😱

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 94 points 2 months ago (13 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 months ago (2 children)

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

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (12 replies)
[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 months ago (14 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.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago (7 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

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (13 replies)
[–] [email protected] 404 points 2 months ago (63 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

load more comments (63 replies)
[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 months ago (4 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.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments
view more: β€Ή prev next β€Ί