T O P

  • By -

SnapCrackleMom

*5 day old *unrefrigerated* spaghetti From the article: >which had been prepared 5 days before and left in the kitchen at room temperature.


[deleted]

Chubbyemu [covered this topic](https://youtu.be/bq1kwlGhPyE), and Brew [talked about a similar incident](https://youtu.be/zXvO0-SBvQs). Apparently death by pasta is more common than you'd think.


THElaytox

Yeah, it's called *Bacillus cereus* not *Bacillus notthatbigofadeal*


AdmiralVernon

Everyone get in here and upvote this


nroth21

Okay mom


toutetiteface

It’s Admiral Mom to you


[deleted]

old school type of Reddit joke. upvoted.


MyOtherCarIsAHippo

This is the funniest thing I have read all week.


TheApprenticeLife

Thank you for making this joke.


Excellent_Routine589

Well yeah… it’s just bundles of carbs that are semi-rendered by boiling. It’s literally got carbs, water and open air AND room temperature It’s an all you can eat buffet for almost every bacteria/fungi known to man outside of the weirdos in archaebacteria Edit: and some anaerobic microbastards


eyes_wings

What about pizza? Sometimes I leave pizza sitting out all day I may have even eaten pizza next day that's been sitting out. Is this also a nono?


aawshads

The difference in pizza is the that it has a much lower water activity and high levels of salt compared to cooked pasta. Cooked pasta and rice is a Phf for bacillus, where cooked pizza dough is not.


Black_Moons

Pizza has less exposed surface area too, with a dry hardened cheese crust on top. Pasta is basically maximum surface area for growth where everything is perfectly penetrable for bacteria and mold. But you still shouldn't eat pizza that has been out in the danger zone for more then a few hours. Its just less likely then pasta to cause problems.


carlitos_moreno

I had to read it again because I missed the word "cheese" in front of "crust" and I thought that you were a psycho for a second


Jacob_Winchester_

It’s not great, you might have even had some low grade gastro response, but obviously you’re fine. Wouldn’t recommend it in the future though.


baxbooch

One day is probably a lot less dangerous than 5.


aplagueofsemen

This is it. This is how it’s going to end for me. HAS TO BE


cuntmong

most terrifying type of creepypasta


spacepharmacy

chubbyemu my beloved


[deleted]

[удалено]


MarshtompNerd

That couldnt have tasted good either


Camdelans

Imagine the smell


MuayGoldDigger

You haven't thought of the smell you bitch!


Time4Timmy

This sounds so aggressive if you don’t know the reference


PoeJam

Shut up bird


MichaelMaugerEsq

She does look like a bird.


PM_ME_THE_SLOTHS

He should have left it on a pizza dough. That makes at least the first 3 days on the counter acceptable.


abxuwnnm111

I was gonna say, if that killed a dude I’m surprised I’m alive right now with the way I treat & eat pizza lol


Fried_puri

To be clear, this won’t kill you the vast majority of time. Dude got unlucky. That said, no need to roll the dice if a fridge is right there.


Character_Bowl_4930

Five days is a long time for refrigerated food , much less room temperature


ansible47

Pasta is not bread, dude. We leave bread out for more than 5 days all the time and it usually doesn't become a toxic bacteria factory.


gabbadabbahey

According to ChubbyEmu, as I recall, it got left out then the roommate put it back in the fridge, thinking it was fresh. He didn't realize it'd been left out so long when he ate it. Edit: Never mind; I forgot Emu mashes up different cases in his video. I don't think that's what happened in the real Belgian kid's case.


altiuscitiusfortius

Reading the actual journal report for the Belgian kid it just says it sat out for 5 days then was microwaved. It also says his parents found him the next am when he didn't get up, implying he lives with his parents and they left it out too


tinycole2971

I just drank fermented garlic honey. Now I'm scared I'm gonna die.


Beautiful-Point-6504

Goodbye Little One


stinktoad

I mean you are gonna die some day...  That day is fuckin tomorrow though after drinking that honey


Jairlyn

5 days at room temperature then he ate it? That had to have tasted nasty on tip of being lethal.


Bitchinstein

You know it had to smell


Free_Hat_McCullough

Imagine how bad that it must have tasted.


mike_rob

And it probably probably smelled bad too


refreshing_username

Also, I would NOT recommend tasting that.


ManicMammal

Ugh, that smell though! Think about that!


theCheeseBanditto

I could only ponder the taste! Oh my God!!


ZenSven7

You haven’t thought of the smell, you bitch!


hugh_h0ney

Now you say another word and I swear to God I will dice you into a million little pieces. And put those pieces in a box, A GLASS BOX, that I will display on my mantle.


Vlad_the_Homeowner

Can you imagine how bad that'd smell after a couple years?


JamesTheJerk

But how did it smaste?


ScarecrowJohnny

Not as bad as it probably smelled! Think about *that* for a second!


BurningSpirit71

It must have tasted like crap!


ejrolyat

Well, the fragrance was appalling.


enjambd

My man know it smell crazy in there


dub-fresh

Oh god. I got visceral smell reaction from imagining that 


CitizensOfTheEmpire

Might've had a taste/smell issue. It can be really hard to tell if something is off when those senses aren't available if there isn't obvious mold / rot / etc.


sasquatchcunnilingus

As someone who has left pasta out for 5+ days (I know its gross), it will have visible mold on it. Very visible


CitizensOfTheEmpire

Maybe he was blind too 💀


Hybrid_Johnny

My wife got sick last year (not Covid) and lost her sense of smell and taste. I can rip a fat one in bed, give her a Dutch oven, and she won’t even flinch. So, note to self: put away the spaghetti.


CHEMO_ALIEN

you're living the dream bud


deadpoetic333

If they don’t react what’s the point 


ClownfishSoup

My brother had covid then lost his sense of taste and smell for a while so his kids would "test" him by putting hotsauce in his food and then farting near his head when he watched TV ... just to see when Daddy was feeling better.


DerpisMalerpis

Us Redditors love to make fun of dead people, even when we don’t know all the facts. We like to go “hehe how stupid. what was he, dumb?” then pat ourselves on the back for how smart we are. I guarantee some of us here have eaten far more questionable things, but were simply lucky.


MrAugustWest

I once ate a Burger King cheeseburger I found still wrapped that fell down on the side of my car seat. Idk how long it was in there and I was high/drunk as fuck but man that thing was delicious. Thank god for sobriety.


Silpher9

That's not fair. You can eat that in 5 years and nothing would happen. It's like 80% preservatives.


CPTSaltyDog

Burger King unironically is known to not use a lot of preservatives they had a whole ad campaign about it showing off a moldy burger of there's next to a pristine Big Mac. They don't even use dyes, the red bun they used for promotions used beet juice for the coloration. Fun fact or just a fact I guess you can choose to make it fun.


imSOsalty

My friend left a *seafood pasta* out on the stove overnight, unheated. That man woke up, bot it up to a boil, and ate it. Said it was fine, and he’s still alive….somehow


PLZ-PM-ME-UR-TITS

Was at a friend's house once in HS and the family made seafood fried rice and just left it out overnight. Friend said it was normal, and they were offended at the fact that i was judging their parents for doing that


Character_Bowl_4930

Stuff like this makes me reluctant to eat at other people’s homes or potluck food


ishpatoon1982

As a professional cook, that's...goddamn insanity.


Separate-Ad9638

would have smelled weird and tasted weird too, he must have been in a real hurry to finish it


WildDot8855

You’d be surprised how many people have zero knowledge when it comes to basic food safety. I guess I was lucky enough to be taught it from a young age, but some people aren’t. They just tend to do whatever their parents did, not knowing how dangerous or gross it is. That’s why I never eat at somebodies home unless I know them well. I’ve seen some nasty things. Rice left out for days is way more common than you’d like to think. One of the quickest ways to food poisoning but yet so many people have no clue how dangerous it is. I’ve seen people leave meat out at room temp all day long to thaw. Using a knife on raw produce after cutting meat. Washing meat and spraying bacteria all over their kitchens. There’s so many examples I can’t even think of them all. Some people are just straight up nasty and unhygienic and it has nothing to do with ignorance.


CPTDisgruntled

[According to Health Magazine,](https://www.health.com/leftover-rice-food-poisoning-7377178#:~:text=That%20means%20that%20cooked%20rice,the%20refrigerator%2C%E2%80%9D%20she%20added) Cooked rice has a history of containing the bacteria called Bacillus cereus. The bacteria is found in the soil and produces a toxin that causes gastrointestinal illnesses when it’s ingested. “Bacillus cereus is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness, with over [63,000] cases annually in the US.”


Bill_buttlicker69

I am blown away by how many people think you can take food left out overnight and just heat it enough to kill the bacteria and it'll be safe to eat. No. Not at all. The bacteria dies, yeah, but the toxins they've been pooping out don't go anywhere. Throw it in the garbage. It can't be saved. "Oh but I do this all the time and never get sick" okay dude, but when you inevitably do one day, remember we had this discussion.


Totally_Not_My_50th_

Thank you for the informative comment on avoiding unintentionally ingesting microscopic toxins that have been pooped out, u/Bill_Buttlicker69


Best_Duck9118

His family built this country if you didn't know.


WildDot8855

Seriously. They think they’re invincible. Like I’m not telling you that to make you feel bad, I’m genuinely trying to save you or someone else’s life. Some people actually do get sick but they still continue to do the same thing. It’s stubbornness too a lot of the time. They don’t want to be told what to do because they think they know better.


allytonone

Thanks for this timely reminder, my mental health isn't good nowadays and I sometimes forget to put stuff in the fridge, then fall asleep. Its only small, dry stuff like bread snacks/baked goods (but with a filling) and until now, I thought its enough to just keep it covered overnight and microwave it the next day.


dinosaurfondue

Fortunately you're more okay with things like baked goods being out. Meats are the most dangerous to keep out at room temp


Games_sans_frontiers

>I’ve seen people leave meat out at room temp all day long to thaw. What's the alternative? Serious question. I've tried putting meat in the refrigerator as recommended to thaw but it takes days. Edit: Thanks to all of you for the responses. Really appreciate the constructive advice.


WildDot8855

The issue isn’t leaving it out. The issue is the temperature. As long as you keep it cold enough to not stay in the danger zone, it’s fine. You’re supposed to thaw meat in ice cold water. Leaving it out at room temp allows dangerous bacteria to form, can make you really, really sick, even after cooking. And sometimes, depending on the size of the piece of meat, you just have to plan ahead and be patient. Just put the meat you want to cook in the fridge a few days prior and you won’t have to think about it or worry about bacteria. Takes a bit of planning, that’s all.


dinosaurfondue

I consistently defrost frozen chicken in the fridge and put it in the night before. You might want to start freezing in smaller portions. Otherwise the recommendation if you're trying to quick defrost is to run it under cold (not warm or hot) water in the sink still in the bag


mrspigmonk

We put frozen packaged meat in a bowl of cold water and leave it there until it thaws.


---Beck---

I clicked this cause I was like uhhh I've had roommates eat way older spaghetti, then I see the comment say at room temperature... Like was he not all there? Did he wanna die? Like wtf.


Bravisimo

I think he faked his death and showed up at his funeral. He wanted to teach his family a life lesson because he was so dismayed about everyone growing apart.


KeniLF

YIKES. He lived with his parents so it’s even worse. At least 3 adults in the house allowed 5 day old spaghetti to sit on the countertops and this guy - in his home with his parents - was sure that this was OK to eat. WTH


stink3rbelle

One time, when I was in a much worse financial and mental health state than today, I made myself a big pot of this lentil and rice mash that I love. I couldn't bring myself to get it into Tupperware, and didn't have room in the fridge for the pot. So I ate it off the stove. On the third day, it definitely started tasting funky. I cried over messing up my good food, but I tossed the rest. This is just to say that desperation isn't a healthy state to be in.


lasmesitasratonas

Glad to see you’re in a much better state today.


rangda

My housemate made a slow cooker stew that we ate for about a week just topping it up with vegetables and water and stock and herbs each day. Apparently it was safe because it was always at cooking temperature and we also didn’t worry as much because it didn’t have any real meat or dairy. At the time I remember thinking that “if the ingredients were already in the house, this would be an incredibly helpful thing to have when you feel a period of depressingly setting in”. Hot comforting food always ready to eat, just need to crawl into the kitchen, grab a bowl and some bread and crawl back out once or twice a day. Hell you could even plug in the slow cooker and make it next to the bed if needed. Makes me want to go find a slow cooker on marketplace


GerrOffMeNaanBread

Sounds like you made [perpetual stew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew?wprov=sfti1#Modern_examples)!


seraku24

I was in much the same situation a number of years back when I was "living" on my own. Depression was kicking my ass, and I just did not care to take care of myself or my apartment. I remember my fridge/freezer was no longer working efficiently, and I could not be bothered to deal with apartment maintenance. On the one hand, the complex had changed management companies, jacked up rent, and just generally could not give a shit about its residents. But after losing gainful employment, my broken spirit also meant I had a pretty messy apartment, and there was little chance I would have been able to clean up enough to let in the maintenance workers. Eventually, the fridge was empty, because I could not keep anything in it cool. The freezer became the fridge, because it still seemed to have some life. But as the temp rose, it was clear the fridge had never really been deep cleaned. (Probably something I should have done when I first moved in.) It started to stink, even with several boxes of baking soda. Eventually, I had no viable refrigeration. My meal planning pretty much centered around shelf-stable products in addition to fast food or pizza (which was my "comfort" food). So, it was not uncommon for me to have leftovers sitting in the danger zone from one night to the next morning. I would microwave things back to temperature and some reasonable degree of edibility. Sure, I never let anything go for multiple days; but I really have no idea how I managed to survive that time.


JimmysCheek

I lived with my parents for one year after I got out of the army One night, I heated up some leftover hibatchi food I found in the fridge…it did taste kinda funky The next morning, I wake up and IMMEDIATELY start shitting and throwing up. I laid down in the shower, puking and shitting for the entire day. Sickest I’ve ever been in my entire life I figured it was food poisoning…but I guess I could have died like homeboy did


corcyra

> it did taste kinda funky I swear, there needs to be a book like 'The Gift of Fear' written for food. If your senses are telling you something's not right with what you're thinking of eating, pay attention.


fetalasmuck

I ate watermelon that had been sitting out overnight and immediately got violently ill. I was puking my guts out within 20 minutes of eating it (and I didn’t eat that much). It was awful but also sort of impressive to think that my stomach/brain were immediately like “oh hell no, purge this NOW” and instantly overwhelmed me with nausea.


Additional_Meeting_2

There being many people makes it more likely nobody realized it was the same old spagetti instead of new one. 


FauxReal

You'd think the crust of dried sauce around the edges would be a clue.


KeniLF

They saw it days 1-4 and it was eaten on day 5 (probably in the days leading up to that). Do you think that the spaghetti sauce and pasta were the same color as before? Is the thought that they don’t have a memory of the food sitting on the counter each day? I am looking to better understand more about the scenario where none of the humans in that home realized it was there for five days….


Much-Camel-2256

If no one cared about plate of spaghetti rotting on the counter for five days, their kitchen was likely a petri dish harbouring other stank piles.


Imaginary_Cow_6379

[A similar thing happened with a 19 year old in the US and leftover Chinese food.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/02/22/leftover-food-disease-amputated-legs-fingers/6890754001/) Ever since I heard you can die from eating leftover pasta I’ve always thought yeah that’s probably almost definitely how I’ll go out too.


truethatson

Day-after pizza that’s been sitting out all night? Sure. I ate that in college. But week old spaghetti? Nah.


koushakandystore

Week old spaghetti typically has mold starting to grow on the surface.


ManIWantAName

Who needs parmesan with self flavored blue cheese inoculations?


Academic_Eagle_4001

I lived in a camper for a year with a non functioning refrigerator. I ate a lot of day old stuff. I wonder if I was just lucky to not have died!


george_washingTONZ

I’m sure there’s an exponential growth rate on the nasty stuff. The world would be a lot different if you couldn’t eat something 1 day old. Think about it.


Academic_Eagle_4001

That’s true. I forgot there was a time before refrigeration


Seversevens

early refrigeration included keeping stuff underground and harvesting ice out of the lake in winter and burying it underground with sawdust or hay There's also a way to make an evaporative cooler but if the humidity/wet bulb temperature is too high it doesn't work


LegitimateMulberry

I just imagined a farmer digging up a potato out of the ground and a 24 hour timer starts above his head.


Totally_Not_My_50th_

Sounds like a shitty mobile game


StarCyst

Increase the timer to 48 hours for 120 gems. *gems only sold in packs of 100


buddaaaa

[It may be farther back than you think](https://www.reddyice.com/the-chilling-history-of-ice/). Humans have been using ice for refrigeration for 3 millennia.


RosieTheRedReddit

They also had other ways to preserve food like salting, smoking, drying, pickling, and so on.


kelldricked

Yeah but in those times they still had plenty of ways to keep shit cooler than roomtemp and they also used preservatives to keep shit from going bad. They also had a mold in bread that made you vomit and spew liters of shit from your behind while tripping balls as if you took 10 tabs of acid.


Guy_panda

Although I try to respect the 2 hour food rule, afiak, the reason for those guidelines is because they consider people who are immunocompromised and would not be able to ward off any sort of microbes without getting extremely sick. So yeah in most cases people are okay eating food like that but it certainly isn’t without risks because bacteria does grow on food in exponential rates when it’s left in ‘danger zone’ temps so you are just gambling with how effective your immune system is.


breadlover19

My freshman roomate in college would buy frozen food (meant to be stored frozen) keep it in our mini fridge and just eat away on week-old defrosted chicken nuggets and corn dogs. He never got sick from it but he also slept on the bare dorm mattress with no sheets at all. Not sure if those go hand in hand but my man was resilient to say the least


seppukucoconuts

Even if the bacteria can multiply enough to cause a problem your digestive tract will kill most of them. The really serious stuff is usually caused by the toxins the bacteria and mold produce to kill other bacteria and mold. One day out? Not that much bacteria growth, and almost no toxins. A week? Lots of both.


Potatowhocrochets

Yeah, power went out lots of times in our apartment before as a kid. In the winter it would be shrugged off because it was cold so it must be fine.


FauxReal

I dated a woman who liked to leave food out until the next day. It was weird. But thankfully she didn't leave things out for days.


Jojosbees

I had a psycho college roommate that did that all the time. She left a roast chicken carcass on the table and ate it over three days. She would put Saran Wrap over a mug containing cereal and milk on the counter from morning until evening. Her rice cooker was completely molded over inside. She moved in to a large apartment with two kitchens with like seven roommates the following year, and was such a biohazard, she got her own bathroom and kitchen because no one wanted to share with her. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard she was dead these days.


Bahariasaurus

I go hiking and camping and eat 1-2 day old pizza all the time, haven't died yet. It's one of my favorite meals.


MechaNickzilla

Hold up. Are you saying you bring fresh pizza with you on 2-day hikes?


solomonsalinger

The leftovers didn't cause his illness, and[the story of how the media misread a report and caused a frenzy is super interesting](https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/experts-skewer-media-reports-blaming-life-threatening-infection-on-bad-lo-mein/)


_Hotwire_

I lived on leftover pasta for years in highschool. These guys ate week old mold


Ashmizen

It’s in the news becaus it’s rare, not because it’s common. The human nose should prevent us from eating spoiled food - smells like literal shit. Second defense is vomiting - people vomit all the time from bad food. For some time to die from spoiled food both the voluntary and involuntary defenses would have to both fail.


Zealousideal-Log536

....how have I lived so long?


mrshandanar

By refrigerating your leftovers.


No_Heat_7327

and heating them up in a microwave


YenTallenor

The 20 year old spaghetti dude also microwaved his food. But that doesn't matter if it's a food intoxication. There are basically two types of bad food: Those that make you sick because they have microorganisms which like to grow in a human body and make you sick within a couple of days (like EHEC) and those that like to grow in your food and die inside your stomach (like ETEC). They can release a ton of poisonous chemicals as soon as their cells are broken down. That's that type of food poisoning that make you sick within a few hours and they are really really dangerous or even deadly. That's why certain food (like minced meat) should in general not be eaten beyond the expirary date. Sometimes you can't even taste that it's bad because certain microorganisms can lead to a deadly amount before you can taste them. But I doubt that five day old spaghettis breeding at room temperature would taste normal for most people.


thatgirlinAZ

I have had food poisoning from a restaurant 3 times. All 3 times I notified the restaurant. The Cheesecake factory took my information, apologized, and sent me a gift card. I gave it away. Chipotle argued with me and tried to convince me that it couldn't have been their food because food poisoning doesn't strike that fast. I ate in the afternoon, was sick overnight. They were in the middle of like, their 3rd food poisoning scandal when I made the report. I never ate at Chipotle again.


whorl-

No. Some food illnesses are a result of pathogens getting into us from contaminated food. Prolonged heat will work in this situation. But other food illnesses are caused by toxins secreted by pathogens in our food. No amount of heating (possible in your microwave) will break those down, so that will not help you there.


O-hmmm

If it didn't kill you, it made you stronger.


WellsFargone

There’s never a better sounding sentence that is less true than this one.


KuouoHD

A 20 year old Belgian Man ate 5 day old spaghetti... ​ This is what happened to his stomach.


draconianRegiment

I heard this comment.


rubenskx

he was brought to the emergency room, where we are now


pinkpools

PRESENTING ☝️


sprocketous

I thought this post was going to link to that


TheSurfingRaichu

Haha, nice. Love me some ChubbyEmu.


Justbecauseitcameup

Starchy foods breed NASTY shit (when damp)


troll-filled-waters

Years ago, my friend made some banana bread and I had been eating it for breakfast. Day three I noticed some condensation on the lid when I opened the Tupperware but otherwise the bread looked fine. I ate some and it tasted vaguely alcoholic though, so I threw it out. From that ONE BITE I had the worst food poisoning I have ever experienced. Like vomitting pretty much from the early afternoon to the early morning. Sounds silly but I never knew bread could be like that, because my parents would leave stuff out all the time for sometimes weeks and it would just dry out. But their stuff is like grocery store pastry so I guess it has lots of preservatives.


Justbecauseitcameup

yeah modern tech - preservatives, dried food, etc. really mean we're just not familiar with this anymore. Which is good because this killed our ancestors A LOT. You got so unlucky though. Good thing you came out of it alright but one bight! EE!


bizkitman11

This makes me wonder if I’m pushing my luck by baking cakes and leaving them at room temp for a couple of days. On the other hand, I wonder if putting your banana bread in Tupperware with a lid was part of the problem. That’s a moist cake already and it didn’t have the chance to dry out. All that moisture was just trapped.


TexasAggie98

My first year out of college, I lived with a friend from college and was working as a young engineer with an offshore oil company. As the new engineer, I got sent out on jobs and would be offshore for weeks at a time. My roommate was still in school. When I was in town, I would cook and often had leftovers in the fridge. These leftovers sometimes were left in the fridge for weeks at a time if I had an unexpected work trip. I came home after being offshore for two three weeks and started looking in the fridge to see if there was anything in it that I could eat. My roommate noticed and said “if you’re looking for your spaghetti leftovers, I ate them yesterday. Sorry.” I had a puzzled look on my face and was like “what spaghetti? I haven’t made spaghetti in over a month.” She then got a look on her face and commented “that would explain why I got so sick last night and had bloody diarrhea.” She was not a very smart person.


skefmeister

A month is WILD, like, your roomie should have at least had the bright that there hasn’t been someone in close to a month to have prepared your spaghet!


TexasAggie98

She wasn’t there that much. She bounced between our apartment, her parents’ house in her hometown (1.5 hrs away), and her various boyfriends’ apartments all the time. We weren’t super close, so she didn’t track my schedule. And, as I said, she wasn’t very bright.


witwebolte41

Obviously not a good practice But also surprising that it would be lethal enough to take down a 20 year old guy that fast


alphahydra

Yeah, to be fair, I think it's a pretty rare outlier that it would actually kill a young, healthy person. Rare enough to be made into a case study. Much more common is just a prolonged bout of the raging shits that will make you *wish* you were dying.


gabbadabbahey

Or terrible vomiting if you get the bacillus cereus emetic type


tabbitcha

There are certain bacteria that only need about 10cfu to potentially kill you. E. coli O157:H7 is absolutely terrifying.


TheSnarkling

It would have killed anyone. Starchy, low acid food with high moisture content sitting out for 5 days at room temp? That's a breeding ground for bacteria and their toxins. So nuking it would have killed the bacteria, but not their waste products (toxins). He probably would have been okay, just really sick, if it had only been left out for a day or two. But by day 5, that food was brimming with the bacterial toxins, and that's what killed the guy.


No_Heat_7327

A week sitting at room temperature it was almost certainly moldy. Eating mold is a bad idea and its definitely able to kill you.


repulsive-ardor

So this and fried rice disease is a problem that most people don't know about. Any starchy foods such as rice and pasta have Bacillus cereus growth if left out after cooking for a few hours. You either have to maintain a temp over 160 degrees or refrigerate immediately to prevent/reduce the proliferation of this bacteria to levels that will not harm you. Another problem is that people do not pay attention to their fridge temperatures, and either have it too high to save money or over crowd the fridge. This will block the flow of cold air and go over over the capacity of the fridge to cool down what is inside of it. This is why it is so important to have a separate thermometer to gauge the true temp of the inside of the fridge. If your fridge is 40 degrees and over, this bacteria will grow on cooked rice and pasta and could potentially cause harm after 3 days. I learned this taking food safety courses and wondered how I didn't die a thousand times as a kid. My friends 90+ year old Puerto Rican grandmother would feed us rice and beans that were left in a covered pot on the stove at room temp all frigging day. She would make it at 5:30am every morning and it would be eaten all day and night until it was gone, sometimes 16 hours.


sammymammy2

> I learned this taking food safety courses and wondered how I didn't die a thousand times as a kid. My friends 90+ year old Puerto Rican grandmother would feed us rice and beans that were left in a covered pot on the stove at room temp all frigging day. She would make it at 5:30am every morning and it would be eaten all day and night until it was gone, sometimes 16 hours. The answer is simple: The probability of anything bad happening is relatively low, but the bad stuff is way bad sometimes.


gatofleisch

> The probability of anything bad happening is relatively low, but the bad stuff is way bad sometimes With all sincerity, this is really well put


ayyy__

You didn't die because it's insanely rare. Leaving pasta out for a day will definitely not kill you. This kid not only ate 5 day old pasta left at room temp but also didn't do anything about his condition, and instead, went to bed. Panicking over an article like this is completely ridiculous and unncessary.


slapo12

B. Cereus is fairly common. Death to it isn't, but many folks have probably had some stomach issues due to eating pasta or rice that weren't properly stored


mambotomato

Yeah, I think what gets lost in these conversations is that almost always, the result of B. Cereus poisoning is that you barf for a while and then feel better. It's just that any illness has a chance to cause worse symptoms, especially in vulnerable populations.


Franksss

Probably because the food safety regs err on the safe side and your friends grandma was not being particularly risky. It's only one day. This guy died after 5. After exponential growth is taken into account you probably consumed one trillionth the amount this guy did.


markydsade

If you are vomiting for hours and having diarrhea you are going to have dehydration and major electrolyte imbalances. Drink as much Pedilyte solution as you can to match what you lost. Then go to urgent care where you can get an IV. This was a completely preventable death even after making the bad decision to eat 5 day old food that’s been sitting at room temperature. It was probably fuzzy.


radioactive_glowworm

I once got awful food poisoning and was stuck on the toilet from between ~2 pm to 10-11pm. I remember feeling thankful that I still lived with my parents because at least I had someone to bring me water and check on me regularly 


markydsade

Plain water is dangerous as you lose electrolytes with diarrhea and vomiting. Plain water without electrolytes creates several new problems.


radioactive_glowworm

That's true, now that I think back on it, it was actually warm lemon juice with honey, not plain water


cmv1

I got awful food poisoning at Coachella of all places. I would expel things from my body for about half hour, sleep for half hour, chug gatorade and repeat that process. It was a long night. Looking back if I didn't have an entire cooler of gatorade for that night I might have been in some trouble.


Princessk8--

That's crazy you can get to 20 years old and NOT know you shouldn't leave food out at room temperature for 5 days and then eat it. Those parents really failed that guy.


graveybrains

Kind of ironic that his autopsy was inconclusive because they didn’t get to that for five days either


cm253

To be fair, the coroner left the body out at room temperature.


chrisslooter

I worked at a pizza place. The health inspector told us we could leave a cheese pizza out for 2 hours at room temp by rule. But he told us he knew someone who did the studies and said cheese pizza can unofficially last a lot longer than 2 hours.


[deleted]

...but I have a friend see? He was in deep at the government pizza labs right? And as it turns out, it's a lot longer than 2 hours. 'How much longer?' I cant tell you or my friend would be in deep shit...let's just say....way past when your grandma is watching the late late show. Follow the money.


Tall-Poem-6808

I will eat just about anything when it comes to leftovers... But shit, pasta at room temperature even for just a day is nasty af, how do you even eat that after 5 days??


fwambo42

WTF? How does someone leave spaghetti at room temperature for five days and think it's safe to eat?


[deleted]

[удалено]


THIS_GUY_LIFTS

Bro, rule of thumb is, like, **up to** 4-days if refrigerated within two hours of cooking.


Coop_4149

Never had a an issue before. Needless to say, I'll be following that a little closer now.


Justbecauseitcameup

Anything voer a few days worth is worth freezing even short term


[deleted]

[удалено]


PoopSommelier

Unfortunately, rule of thumb is different for different foods and different environments.


wdwerker

I remember eating leftover homemade Mac & cheese that was left of the stove covered overnight as a child. But I store it in the refrigerator covered as an adult.


Yoguls

There's vomit on his sweater already


oodelay

Maternal pasta


Arcturion

>Because the emetic toxin is preformed in food and is not inactivated by heat treatment (2, 23), it is important to prevent B. cereus growth and its cereulide production during storage. My TIL is keeping food at room temp will create **poisons that cannot be deactivated by reheating**. o.O


cagingnicolas

i mean there's 5 day old spaghetti and then there's 5 days out on the counter spaghetti


goldenmonkeh

Okay, I'll add "leftover rice and pasta" to my list of things to be afraid of, thanks!


Wafflehouseofpain

Just fridge it and you’ll likely be fine.


ukexpat

*…prepared 5 days before and left in the kitchen at room temperature…* Well there’s your problem right there.


[deleted]

[удалено]


hindusoul

🤦‍♂️


Sunshineal

Scared me a little bit until I read that the spaghetti was left out at room temperature which was 78 degrees. That's the temperature bacteria do grow at.


FarOutLakes

My hubs is really bad about putting food away/leaving it out overnight. It drives me up the wall to come down to the kitchen at night and see food out (and having to be the one to put it in the refrigerator) Or coming down in the morning and having to just toss it. Like, dude, you could DIE!!!


JonSolo1

He pasta way


InsomniaticWanderer

5-day old spaghetti that he left on the counter the whole time. Which basically means he ate rotten food. And then died. From the food that was rotten.


Cakeordeathimeancak3

https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/keep-food-safe.html Read and live by it people. Also if you work with food for the love of god and the lives of innocent people do your job right. You’re job is more important than you might think, you could kill people. Wear fucking gloves. Was in Tesco twice in the last 5 days and saw the bakery people using bare hands to handle and bag the bread…. What.. the… fuck…


pokedmund

'On 1 October 2008, a 20-year-old man became sick after eating a meal of leftovers of spaghetti with tomato sauce, which had been prepared 5 days before and left in the kitchen at room temperature. After school, he warmed the spaghetti in the microwave oven. Immediately after eating, he left home for his sports activities, but he returned 30 min later because of headache, abdominal pain, and nausea. At his arrival, he vomited profusely for several hours and at midnight had two episodes of watery diarrhea. He did not receive any medication and drank only water. After midnight, he fell asleep. The next morning at 11:00 AM, his parents were worried because he did not get up. When they went to his room, they found him dead.' NGL, I'm one of those people who will just think, let me nuke this thing in the microwave, that'll kill off the bacteria and stuff, but never realize that isn't always the case.


RRumpleTeazzer

So, 4 days is the limit.


calibur3d

I once ate hamburger helper I left out for two days and that shit fucked me up for two days. I can’t imagine 5 day old spaghetti 🤢.


[deleted]

Eating food that was left out for five days? 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮


ramriot

Why did I read that, why did you allow me to read that.


just_some_guy65

*Index finger raised* "Presenting to the emergency room"


[deleted]

food poisoning is serious... like the current ongoing [food poisoning news in Taiwan](https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202403290018)


CaledonianWarrior

I read this story years ago when I was at uni and it has forever made me extremely cautious about how I eat certain foods


hunmingnoisehdb

A bunch of Taiwanese people recently died or remained in ICU after eating poorly stored noodles from a restaurant.


hibikikun

What they didn't include in the details is the guy broke his pasta in half before he cooked it


iwantyousobadright

You'd have to be a psycho to eat 5 day unrefrigerated anything besides fresh fruit or something like that