food hygiene question no. 2

[gontofe]

I heard once that you should never reheat rice, otherwise you'll get food poisoning. Is this true? What's so particularly evil about rice?

[Gef]

I often reheat rice (which has been kept in the fridge) in the microwave but make sure that it is steaming hot all the way through. Delia's rice salad is also a favourite and have never suffered by eating (refridgerated) left overs the next day. I think the food poisoning problem is down to people buying takeaways (particularly Chinese type with bits of egg, ham prawn etc) and then not storing and reheating the rice correctly.

[darth vader]

agree with dirtyegg and gef. In fact we've fed my baby boy re-heated rice before now. It's all about what is cooked WITH the rice (i.e. prawns, egg etc) that tends to give the poorly tummy. re-heated rice is fine if cooked through properly (i.e. oven or nuked)

[craig_edward]

I'm not sure about re-heated rice, but bacillus cereus food poisoning from flash fried rice can potentially be a hazard.

[tracymort]

found this on the food standards website. "What do I need to know about storing and reheating cooked rice and grains? There are a few things to remember when reheating cooked rice and grains. The spores of some food poisoning bugs like Bacillus cereus can survive cooking. If the cooked rice or grains are left standing at room temperature, the spores can germinate. The bacteria will multiply and produce toxins that can cause vomiting and diarrhoea. Reheating food will not get rid of the toxins. It's best to serve rice and grains when they've just been cooked. If this is not possible, cool them within an hour after cooking and keep them refrigerated until reheating or using in a cold dish. Rice and grains left at room temperature overnight should be thrown away. Do not keep cooked rice and grains for longer than two days and do not reheat them more than once. Follow the manufacturers' 'use by' date for cold rice or grain salads."

[Gef]

Many thanks for that tracyh. Are these Bacillus cereus spores floating around in the air or present in the uncooked rice/grains? If I have time I'll do some research myself.

[Gef]

Did some research! If you are interested have a look at the following site which also has a link to the British food standards site. http://66.132.145.229/factfile.asp?file=1