Cooked Rice Syndrome
Beware of reheating fried rice as it can contain poisonous toxins. It’s something we, or any of the family, have done, but I do know of people that do it.
A serious form of food poisoning can be 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.
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 cooked rice, hence the syndrome’s name.
Once cooked, explained the expert, the spores can germinate, become active, and start creating toxins. “Eating the toxin is what makes people sick,” Shumaker said.
“The spores of the organism germinate in response to the heat of cooking,” said Dr. Donald Schaffner, a professor and extension specialist in food science at Rutgers. “The organism survives the cooking process and then grows in foods not properly refrigerated quickly. Once the organism reaches relatively high concentrations (hundreds of thousands or millions of organisms), it can cause illness through infection or the formation of a heat-stable toxin. When people ingest the organism or the toxin, they become ill.”
The spores generally germinate when the food is cooked at what Shumaker defines as “the temperature danger zone,” between 4.5 and 60 degrees centigrade.
“To avoid bacterial growth, it is recommended to keep foods out of this temperature range for longer than four hours,” she said.
It’s important to note that although the germination process may kick off during cooking time, it continues while the food sits at room temperature.
A serious form of food poisoning can be 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.
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 cooked rice, hence the syndrome’s name.
Once cooked, explained the expert, the spores can germinate, become active, and start creating toxins. “Eating the toxin is what makes people sick,” Shumaker said.
“The spores of the organism germinate in response to the heat of cooking,” said Dr. Donald Schaffner, a professor and extension specialist in food science at Rutgers. “The organism survives the cooking process and then grows in foods not properly refrigerated quickly. Once the organism reaches relatively high concentrations (hundreds of thousands or millions of organisms), it can cause illness through infection or the formation of a heat-stable toxin. When people ingest the organism or the toxin, they become ill.”
The spores generally germinate when the food is cooked at what Shumaker defines as “the temperature danger zone,” between 4.5 and 60 degrees centigrade.
“To avoid bacterial growth, it is recommended to keep foods out of this temperature range for longer than four hours,” she said.
It’s important to note that although the germination process may kick off during cooking time, it continues while the food sits at room temperature.
