Beware: Reheating Refrigerated Leftovers Could Be Poisonous, Doctor Warned

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The norm in this clime averts the act of trashing excess foods, but recent findings have warned that warming leftover rice, potatoes, chickens, boiled egg, Mushrooms, could be very dangerous to the human system.

The caution raised by a Food Safety Specialist from the North Carolina State University Dr Benjamin Chapman, noted that eating leftover rice can make you sick with food poisoning if it’s not stored well, as cooking rice doesn’t always kill all the pathogens living on it.

In a report published by Daily Mail Online, Dr Chapman revealed that when rice is kept at room temperature after it’s cooked, bacteria can multiply. This is because the environment of the cooked rice provides the bacterial spores with water and nutrients to grow.

Identifying the bacteria called Bacillus cereus as responsible for the mix-up, he said it is present in dried rice, but if it escaped being destroyed during the process of boiling the rice, and the rice is kept at room temperature after it’s cooked, the spores can germinate foodborne illness.

Meanwhile a study published in the journal Epidemiology and Infection, suggested that boiled rice should ‘either be kept hot (>63C) or cooled quickly and transferred to a refrigerator within two hours of cooking.

Other foods listed by the expert that could be harmful to the human system when reheated are mushrooms- because the proteins in mushrooms can break down immediately after they are cut; Chicken: The protein in chicken changes when cold chicken is reheated, which can lead to digestive problems unless it’s reheated to a very hot temperature; Potatoes: Potatoes can host a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, if they aren’t refrigerated soon after they’re cooked. Botulism is a rare illness that can lead to paralysis.

Boiled eggs are also said to be dangerous: If eggs aren’t heated for long enough, they can cause food poisoning. Cooked eggs should never be left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours because illness causing bacteria can grow on them.