Once again, TikTok has spurred intense conversations relating to food safety. In recent weeks, a 2008 news story resurfaced on the social media platform , terrifying users about the dangers of eating reheated leftover starches, particularly rice and pasta. On TikTok, it’s referred to as “fried rice syndrome.
” Originally published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology , the story focused on the death of a Brussels-based student following his consumption of a plate of meal-prepped spaghetti that he supposedly cooked Sunday, left out, and five days later reheated and ate it. This has to be some form of #naturalselection because idk how this isnt common sense #leftovers #spoiledfood #bacteria #foodpoisoning So that may get you wondering: How long can food be left out and eaten again? Is it safer to eat leftovers out of a fridge? What, exactly, did the late student actually consume? We asked all of that and more to food safety experts. What is ‘fried rice syndrome’? In the case of the Brussels student, the illness was food poisoning caused by the Bacillus cereus bacterium.
Found throughout the environment in its dormant, spore form, the microorganism doesn’t usually cause an illness, explained Dr. Ellen Shumaker , a food safety expert and director of outreach for the Safe Plates program at North Carolina State University. The non-germinated organism is often seen in soil and starchy food (again, like rice or pasta).
According to Shumaker, it is mostly associated with.