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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[–] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 403 points 2 months ago (16 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 106 points 2 months ago

Same lol. 5 days is absolutely insane.

[–] 50MYT@aussie.zone 71 points 2 months ago (15 children)

I lived with a flatmate that used to pull this sort of shit.

Typical process:

She would remove the frozen chicken from the fridge, put it on the outdoor table, then go to class. Would come home to a defrosted chicken, which she would take and chop in half on the kitchen floor. Then she would put one half back in the freezer, usually on top. Lovely going to get ice to find it's covered in frozen defrosted chicken blood. She would then use the other half to cook up a soup in our one big pot we had. This pot would live on the back corner of the stove for a week. Or two. Each day she would take a ladle full and warm it up to eat. The big pot wasn't kept warm or in the fridge.

I got to the point where as soon as we saw the mould growing out of the pot, we would biff the entire contents and water blast the pot outside. Much to her annoyance.

She would then just repeat again the next week.

[–] clickyello@lemmy.world 46 points 2 months ago (1 children)

what the fuck??? how did you not pull her aside and say "hey, not ok"??

[–] 50MYT@aussie.zone 45 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Oh we did.

Regularly.

But as poor students, it was pick your battles. Her dick boyfriend used to drive them both home drunk as, then cook chicken nuggets at 3am setting off the smoke alarms on a Tuesday...

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[–] AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 30 points 2 months ago (2 children)

My MIL does this, to this day, regularly, and it baffles me how she doesn't get food poisoning.

She most recently let a chicken carcass hang out at room temp for 36 hours before boiling it to make a soup, which, okay, boil it long and high enough you're probably fine. But then after it was done the stove was turned off and it sat out for another 18 hours before being put in the fridge.

Also she doesn't believe that hard boiled eggs need to be refrigerated, I've seen a batch sit for 7+ days.

She also thinks I'm wasteful if I toss something that's moldy, she scrapes the mold off and eats it. But based on what I've read, there are unseen spores you're just ingesting so screw that.

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[–] Brekky@lemmy.world 25 points 2 months ago

Kitchen floor you say??

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[–] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago (6 children)

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

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[–] Tikiporch@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The CDC says no more than two hours for perishable food, and one hour if ambient temp is 90°F or above.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 53 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (9 children)

For the 96% of the world that aren't stuck in the 1700, that means 32°C

[–] Squiddlioni@kbin.melroy.org 65 points 2 months ago

Save someone else having to look up the conversion: 1700 metric years is roughly 3092 years fahrenheit

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[–] capt_wolf@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months 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!"

[–] Damage@feddit.it 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Are you a fridge-contents-consultant or something?

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[–] Ledivin@lemmy.world 116 points 2 months ago (5 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 67 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 39 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months 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!

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[–] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 104 points 2 months ago (3 children)

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

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, cooked pasta? Two days tops, and I personally wouldn’t touch it after one. And why not refrigerate it? Did they not own one, because I can’t see any other logical explanation to not do this.

[–] DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Two days on pasta? I give 5-7 in the fridge, and six months if I freeze it. Maybe a little less if its a dairy based sauce like alfredo

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[–] fraksken@infosec.pub 93 points 2 months ago (13 children)

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

[–] goldteeth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 62 points 2 months ago

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

[–] protist@mander.xyz 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.

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[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 86 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 39 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

I one time argued with literally hundreds of people on Reddit about basic food safety regarding food left out on the counter. I'm still floored by it. Numerous government agencies around the world agree about this, and yet...

Btw food safety was MORE critical before modern science because you could easily die from it back then. That was a common excuse people gave me in the previously mentioned subreddit, for eating food left out/bad - "our ancestors did it". No.

[–] JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee 22 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Dude, I grew up with nonstop food poisoning because my mom did this. My family always said it was a "stomach flu" when the whole family was puking and shitting every other week.

It was horrible and I think it did some damage to my digestive system long term. I didn't figure it out until I was in my 20's and stopped eating anything she cooked.

I'm weird about left overs now, even though my husband is very clean when he cooks and doesn't leave food out, or if he does it goes in the trash.

Don't leave your food out people. It will fuck you up one day.

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[–] JigglySackles@lemmy.world 74 points 2 months ago (12 children)

This is such a fuckin non story. Dude left cooked food out unrefridgerated and got sick and died. No fuckin shit. We have places to keep cooked food cold for a fuckin reason. Stupid ass article trying to scare people about fuckin leftovers. Fuck this piece of shit ass article and the twat that wrote it.

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[–] randombullet@programming.dev 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.

[–] quixotic120@lemmy.world 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

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 49 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] Im_old@lemmy.world 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.

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[–] SeemsNormal@lemmy.world 48 points 2 months ago

It’s almost like the scientists who named this bacteria knew this would happen.

You can’t… B. Cereus

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 43 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] way_of_UwU@programming.dev 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I found out about this case through the chubbyemu video. Not sure how much of this was embellishment, but the way it's explained in the video is that the pasta was left out for a couple days, then thrown into the refrigerator by a roommate who didn't know it was probably bad. The guy then took out a portion of the pasta, completely unaware that it had gone rancid. Definitely a more believable mistake (although still pretty irresponsible of the meal prepper).

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[–] Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Misleading title. He didn't eat leftovers. He was eating rancid, spoiled food that had been left out for 5 days. He was eating garbage.

Leftovers are when you store food in the fridge for a few days in a container.

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[–] Sumocat@lemmy.world 36 points 2 months ago (5 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.

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[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago (4 children)

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??

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 24 points 2 months ago (9 children)

And someone said everything in their fridge is food they cooked over 5 days ago…

I've been doing this for years and years. Maybe not wayyy more than 5 days but it is usually about a week. I don't have all that much time after work so I don't want to waste time cooking and I'm not wasting money on take out so I do all my cooking for the week on Saturday or Sunday. I don't do what the poor kid in the article did though, if anything I put things in the fridge that are still way too hot but I never wanted to risk something like that.

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[–] BigBenis@lemmy.world 30 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Shoot I'll leave rice on the counter all day sometimes... I should stop doing that.

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[–] weariedfae@lemmy.world 27 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] Podunk@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Article says, college student... if you are suprised... i hate to break it to ya. They are all that dumb in one way or another. I know i was at least. And i know im not outside of the status quo in that regard.

Hindsight and survivors bias. Also, super bad luck for that kid.

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[–] capital@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago (11 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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[–] grasshopper_mouse@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago (12 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??

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[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago (2 children)
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[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 21 points 2 months ago (2 children)

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.

left to cool at room temperature for a few hours

I think I do that almost every single time I make food

[–] arefx@lemmy.ml 52 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Guy that died let it sit out for multiple days per article... he was eating rotting food.

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[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 20 points 2 months ago (2 children)

However, he didn’t store the pasta in the fridge, rather he left it out on the counter.

Oh, okay. And I was worried for a moment that it could happen to me...

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