Reheated rice

[sue11]

Hi all, just a question on rice. I have seen quite a few posts on the dangers of eating reheated rice. I am puzzled by this as quite regularly I cook rice, then freeze and reheat leftovers and have never suffered any bad effects. Also if it is that dangerous, then surely it would not be sold ready cooked in cold counters in the supermarkets i.e. the pre-prepared indian and chinese food that you simply heat to serve?
I understand that heating to the correct temperature kills dangerous bacteria so I imagine microwaving these products should be okay.
Or Is there a particular circumstance that is more dangerous than others, such as defrosting rice and heating it by running hot water through it (which I have done on mor than one occassion!) ? I will be interested to know.
Many thanks
Sue

[squarebear]

Nothing wrong with reheated rice. If you listen to everything that the so called experts say, you wouldn't dare eat anything at all.

[sue11]

That is what I thought, but I have seen posted on here that there is a nasty bacteria that you can pick up from reheated rice. If it was just the one post, I would have disregarded it, but it has been mentioned a few times.
I agree that a lot of stuff is hyped up all out of proportion in terms to the actual risk as some people have a vested interest in keeping us all scared!
Cheers
Sue

[whifffey]

Ask yourself how and where the rice can go bad. If you prepare and cook it yourself, keep it covered before reheating, how can it go off? How have the bugs got in? Well they haven't, follow your commonsense and you will be fine.

[Hazel104]

This from the FSA website:

It's true that you could get food poisoning from eating reheated rice. But it's not actually the reheating that's the problem � it's the way the rice has been stored before reheating.

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will germinate into bacteria. These bacteria will multiply and may produce toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Reheating the rice won't get rid of these toxins.

So, the longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that bacteria, or the toxins they produce, could stop the rice being safe to eat.

It's best to serve rice when it has just been cooked. If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) and keep it in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating.

[Sqad]

Bottom line......Bacillus cereus.....toxin which causes vomiting, etc.

To reheat.......cool the rice quickly and put into the fridge for reheating once ONLY.

Allowing rice to cool slowly is the ideal conditions for our friend mentioned above.

[whifffey]

"... when the rice is cooked the spores can survive"

I didn't know that - apologies!

Fortunately rice is cheap, and I never have enough left over anyway to worry about re-heating.

[whifffey]

Does this mean that spores will survive in boil-in-the-bag brown rice after 30 minutes on high simmer?

[sue11]

Excellent answers everyone thanks very much, that has cleared up the puzzle for me.
Hi Whiffey, I believe any cooking process at a high heat will kill off any bacteria, so boil in the bag should be okay.
For further info for those that want it on the time limits of multiplying bacteria, I understand it has a 4 hour danger window. The time period does not have to be consecutive and adds up each time the food is left in improper temperatures. Therefore if you cooked your rice and left it out for say 3 hours and then put it in the fridge, you are three hours into your danger period. Then if you took it out again later to reheat, but too early and left it for another couple of hours, you are then in the period of potential food poisoning as the total time has been 5 hours out at an inproper temperature.
Once again thanks for all the answers given.
Sue

[whifffey]

Here's a scenario I have too often been through. A home-delivery curry at 8pm, vindaloo with vegetable rice. Doze off in the armchair bloated, awake at 1am peckish, finish off the curry.

How dangerous is this? I've never had any problems so far over and above the normal gut-rot associated with vindaloo.

[sue11]

I am sure the vindaloo will kill off any little horrors lurking in the food! Sorry Whifffey, I may have given you an incorrect answer to your boil in the bag question as of course it has already been stated that reheating (if the rice is precooked) will not kill off any bacteria.
I think the important thing here is the storage of it. If you leave your takeaway curry at room temperature for more than 4 hours, then you are in danger of any nasty bacteria multiplying enough to give you illness. If you can, I would try to chuck it in the fridge once you have eaten it on the first sitting!
That said, I think that the majority of usl have to be unlucky to suffer food poisoning on the odd occasion that we are less careful with our food.
Cheers Sue

[TheMime]

Sue i have had rice that has been left in the pan overnight and then reheated in the microwave the next day/night and have never encountered any problems myself! So would'nt a long time in the microwave or fried kill off the bacteria? If not why have i never been ill?

[Oneeyedvic]

The words are can cause

Have you noticed how some people get colds a lot, and some people don't.

Everyone has a different level of resistance against illnesses.

Just because you don't get ill, doesn't mean it is safe for everyone.

Personally, I have a very strong stomach however my wife will get a stomach ache and associated problems on food that doesn't effect me in the slightest.

[TheMime]

Yes thank you Oneeyedvic, We fully understand now....

[sue11]

Hi all, thanks for the further posts. Hi Themime, yes I agree with Oneeyedvic, just becuase we may not always follow food safety measures, does not mean that every time we will become ill, in fact the majority of time I am sure that most of us will remain perfectly healthy!
Cheers
Sue

[sue11]

Cheers Ordernowok, I think this is sensible advice that we all should follow with all food, not just rice! However, I myself have left the odd item out overnight forgetting to put it in the fridge. I have then reheated and eaten it, luckily with no ill effects!!!
Just out of interest a few years ago during the hot summer (the good old days remember when we actually had summers!) one of the most common causes of food poisoning was due to people leaving things like tomato ketchup in the store cupboard rather than in the fridge, leading to bacteria mutliplying and giving them upsets. I don't always refridgerate these type of sauces once opened as they don't normally go off in the cupboard. You always think of meats and dairy as the most probable causes of food poisoning. Just goes to show that it can be the most innocent of sources than can be the culprit!
Cheers
Sue