Ripped parts of the post:

The bacteria is best known for causing a type of food poisoning called “Fried Rice Syndrome,” since rice is sometimes cooked and left to cool at room temperature for a few hours. During that time, the bacteria can contaminate it and grow. B. cereus is especially dangerous because it produces a toxin in rice and other starchy foods that is heat resistant and may not die when the food it infects is cooked.

And

Unfortunately, that was the case for a 20-year-old student, who passed away after eating five-day-old pasta.

His story was described in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology a few years back, but has since resurfaced due to some YouTube videos and Reddit posts. According to article, every Sunday the student would make his meals for the entire week so he wouldn’t need to deal with making it on the weekdays. One Sunday, he cooked up some spaghetti, then put it in Tupperware containers so that days later, he could just add some sauce to it, reheat it and enjoy it.

However, he didn’t store the pasta in the fridge, rather he left it out on the counter. After five days of the food sitting out at room temperature, he heated some up and ate it. While he noticed an odd taste to the food, he figured it was just due to the new tomato sauce he added to it.

  • QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    401
    ·
    2 months ago

    This made me really anxious about how long I tend to leave food out up until the moment I read that he left it out on the counter FOR FIVE DAYS

    • 50MYT@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      70
      ·
      2 months ago

      I lived with a flatmate that used to pull this sort of shit.

      Typical process:

      She would remove the frozen chicken from the fridge, put it on the outdoor table, then go to class. Would come home to a defrosted chicken, which she would take and chop in half on the kitchen floor. Then she would put one half back in the freezer, usually on top. Lovely going to get ice to find it’s covered in frozen defrosted chicken blood. She would then use the other half to cook up a soup in our one big pot we had. This pot would live on the back corner of the stove for a week. Or two. Each day she would take a ladle full and warm it up to eat. The big pot wasn’t kept warm or in the fridge.

      I got to the point where as soon as we saw the mould growing out of the pot, we would biff the entire contents and water blast the pot outside. Much to her annoyance.

      She would then just repeat again the next week.

      • AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        30
        ·
        2 months ago

        My MIL does this, to this day, regularly, and it baffles me how she doesn’t get food poisoning.

        She most recently let a chicken carcass hang out at room temp for 36 hours before boiling it to make a soup, which, okay, boil it long and high enough you’re probably fine. But then after it was done the stove was turned off and it sat out for another 18 hours before being put in the fridge.

        Also she doesn’t believe that hard boiled eggs need to be refrigerated, I’ve seen a batch sit for 7+ days.

        She also thinks I’m wasteful if I toss something that’s moldy, she scrapes the mold off and eats it. But based on what I’ve read, there are unseen spores you’re just ingesting so screw that.

      • NecroParagon@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        2 months ago

        Man she just really wanted to see if her body could take it. Imagine the confusion at the horrible shits she must’ve had regularly. Couldn’t have anything to do with those food practices.

          • Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            11
            ·
            2 months ago

            I wonder if that’s common practice, where I grew up in Australia it wasn’t uncommon to see meat hung up outside under a tree and people just cutting off the rotten bits

            • 50MYT@aussie.zone
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              8
              ·
              2 months ago

              Maybe.

              This was Dunedin, NZ, so it was cold enough during the day to not be the end of the world, but still…

              • Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                9
                ·
                2 months ago

                Yeah In today’s day and age with what we know about bacteria and refrigeration i see no need for what any of these people were doing

            • nialv7@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              2 months ago

              For meat, that’s actually OK. Many meat curing processes involve mold.

              On the other hand, don’t eat moldy bread.

    • Tikiporch@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      31
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      The CDC says no more than two hours for perishable food, and one hour if ambient temp is 90°F or above.

      • Honytawk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        71
        arrow-down
        17
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        For the 96% of the world that aren’t stuck in the 1700, that means 32°C

          • Damage@feddit.it
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            14
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            People don’t read articles 'cause they don’t want to spend a click, and you suggest opening a new tab and doing a web search?

          • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            16
            arrow-down
            12
            ·
            2 months ago

            Alternatively, we could put units in something the majority of internet users use and let the minority take that extra step…

            • BlitzoTheOisSilent@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              14
              ·
              2 months ago

              The temp was on a website by the CDC, an American agency within the federal government…

              Why would they use Celcius to convey information to their own citizens, who primarily use Fahrenheit, to appease the rest of the world? Do countries that primarily use Celcius have their government agencies post all of their temperature recommendations in Fahrenheit for the Americans around the world?

            • mhague@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              4
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              2 months ago

              Americans can use both so we just… use what is easy. How hot will it be today? 97F. How hot do F1 brakes get? 1000+C, and tyres 100C. They reach over 200 mph. The race distance is around 300km.

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            They did, and they shared it for people who aren’t stuck in the 1700s.

            It’s also more efficient for one person to do it, rather than everyone having to do it

    • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      Never fails to amaze me how so many people don’t understand basic food storage.

      My clients, constantly: “What do you mean I can’t just throw this open bag in the fridge?”, “What do you mean, ‘foil isn’t airtight’?”, “I don’t know how long it’s been in there! What do you mean it expired a month ago?” and my absolute favorite, “You can’t throw my moldy food away! You owe me money for that!”

        • nomous@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          2 months ago

          Likely some kind of aide or in-home help. I have family that works in that field and a lot of it is just helping people with “normal” routine things we all do, but that they’re unable to for whatever reason.

          • Syd@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            2 months ago

            Crimping and folding it around the edge of the pan or the foil itself. Foil can hold in the steam of a pan in the oven or a foil pack on a campfire, for practical purposes that’s air tight. If you’re trying to contain superheated helium then it’s a different story.

            • ericjmorey@discuss.online
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              2 months ago

              Not air tight enough for extended storage purposes, too air tight for cooling in the fridge. It’s all relative as your examples demonstrate.

            • otp@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 months ago

              Hm. I now wonder if it depends. But I don’t wonder enough to do an experiment, lol

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        What are your clients?

        Er, better question to ask is probably, what do you do for work? Lol

        • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          2 months ago

          I’m a residential counselor. Basically what someone else described, I work with people out of the hospital to reintroduce them into the community. I teach life skills, coping skills, appropriate behavior, that sort of thing.

          My clients are middle functioning adults, primarily male, right now 30s and up. Think a grown man, but with the comprehension skills of a middle schooler or lower.

          Lot of patience, lot of repetition, lot of getting yelled at, hit occasionally. Fun times.

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            Thank you for doing what you do.

            I think I see a lot of your clients hanging out in the comments sections of Facebook and Instagram!

    • 🏝Skoob🏝@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      2 months ago

      Yup. This exactly. After 2, and I feel like I shouldn’t even go that far lol, I toss out. Safe than sorry and all that.

    • lolrightythen@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      2 months ago

      I once ate a slice of pizza that sat in a ziploc bag for three days inside a truck when the outside peak temp was near 110f.

      I love me some day old room temp 'za, but even at 22, I knew that was risky.

      Needed a day off, I guess.

    • exasperation@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      Yeah it’s normally just some diarrhea, maybe some vomiting, maybe some immunocompromised people will have more serious symptoms. 5 days is a long time, but so is killing a 20 year old in 10 hours.

      It’s probably helpful to think of it as increasingly bad results from increasingly bad practices, and still seek to avoid the milder non-deadly results too.

    • nialv7@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      I mean I’ve done that. But my reaction after I realise how long I’ve left it out is not going to be “sure, I’ll eat that.”

    • Chee_Koala@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      Our local food-info government body advises max 2 hours outside of the fridge, that should be enough for most foods to cool down for the fridge, right? No need to go days on end 🤣

    • someacnt_@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      I leave out my soup in room temp for days, while regularly boiling it every meal time to prevent it from spoiling. Am I screwed?

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        That’s bad but you’re not screwed. Just stop doing that. Get some Tupperware, put it in the fridge between uses.

      • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 months ago

        There are two vectors for food poisoning: Active harmful bacteria in your food, and toxins which are produced by harmful bacteria. When you boil it again, it removes the former threat but not the latter. Yes, this is very dangerous and you could die.

  • Ledivin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    117
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    5 days out of the fridge - even sealed - is straight insanity. Of course he got sick eventually, I’m just surprised it took so long 😱😱😱

      • ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.netOP
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        41
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        The article says he stored it in Tupperware. Spaghetti in an airtight container, like rice and other carbs, take a lot longer to show signs of mold. So maybe not in the first week. But absolutely after a month!

        And for anybody curious who wants to try the science: reminder that if you see visible mold, it’s already too late. The spores are deep in the food and what’s visible is just a fraction of the fungus!

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      2 months ago

      Especially sealed, it would probably just have dried up otherwise and been crunchy but ok.

    • hakunawazo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      Especially when sealed. It can’t dry and it’s like a petri dish for mold and bacteria.

  • Th4tGuyII@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    104
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    Honestly 5 days out on the counter was asking for trouble - that long is tempting fate even when stored properly in the fridge

    • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      2 months ago

      Yeah, cooked pasta? Two days tops, and I personally wouldn’t touch it after one. And why not refrigerate it? Did they not own one, because I can’t see any other logical explanation to not do this.

      • DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        22
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        Two days on pasta? I give 5-7 in the fridge, and six months if I freeze it. Maybe a little less if its a dairy based sauce like alfredo

        • scarilog@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          Ngl I stretch it out to like 2 weeks sometimes, throwing out only only if it starts starts smelling or the texture goes bad…

          Should I not be doing this lol

    • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      Huh, i always thought that pasta and rice are some of the safer things to store a week in the fridge.

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        2 months ago

        I mean there’s caution and there’s what is fine to do normally. I’ve noticed that especially online people heavily lean towards caution, some don’t even reheat rise because dangerous.

        I think something like five days is fine and just be sensible about it, look, smell, if seems good, taste, if good, should be just fine.

        Dumbasses who just leave pasta in room temperature for five days and then eat it are what scare people in being really cautious and the reason some stricter recommendations are made.

  • GaMEChld@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    92
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    2 months ago

    5 days ON THE COUNTER?! And it tasted off, and he consumed it anyway.

    This is so stupid that it has to be intentional suicide.

    • LustyArgonian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      42
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      I one time argued with literally hundreds of people on Reddit about basic food safety regarding food left out on the counter. I’m still floored by it. Numerous government agencies around the world agree about this, and yet…

      Btw food safety was MORE critical before modern science because you could easily die from it back then. That was a common excuse people gave me in the previously mentioned subreddit, for eating food left out/bad - “our ancestors did it”. No.

      • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        22
        ·
        2 months ago

        Dude, I grew up with nonstop food poisoning because my mom did this. My family always said it was a “stomach flu” when the whole family was puking and shitting every other week.

        It was horrible and I think it did some damage to my digestive system long term. I didn’t figure it out until I was in my 20’s and stopped eating anything she cooked.

        I’m weird about left overs now, even though my husband is very clean when he cooks and doesn’t leave food out, or if he does it goes in the trash.

        Don’t leave your food out people. It will fuck you up one day.

        • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          This is why I am highly circumspect about any food that people offer me. Cause you never know what their understanding of food safety is.

        • Chee_Koala@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          2 months ago

          Wow, that sounds so frocking horrible… I grew up with a mom that involved me in the kitchen every chance she got, and I am really thankful for that, it taught me so much about food, cooking, baking. your story is basically the evil twin of mine! ‘Being weird’ about leftovers now seems like the minimal damage you could have taken, I would have a very hard time of trusting other folks’ food after growing up like that. Wow.

      • RebekahWSD@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        2 months ago

        Food safety is so important! After taking the food manager safety test I hate eating at some peoples houses. It scares me. My step brothers use to leave meat to thaw on the countertop overnight. Miserable.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        2 months ago

        Our ancestors took storage measures right away, salting meat, putting root vegetables in the root cellar

  • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    81
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    2 months ago

    This is such a fuckin non story. Dude left cooked food out unrefridgerated and got sick and died. No fuckin shit. We have places to keep cooked food cold for a fuckin reason. Stupid ass article trying to scare people about fuckin leftovers. Fuck this piece of shit ass article and the twat that wrote it.

    • Doxatek@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      2 months ago

      I genuinely know of an individual who believes refrigeration is a hoax and a conspiracy. He refrigerates nothing. Milk in the cabinets. I guess it’s just big refrigerator trying to manipulate us?

    • LwL@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      2 months ago

      Nah honestly given the difference in danger depending on the food this isn’t bad to know. I’m familiar with pasta turning into a weird consistency with weird smell and I always threw it away when that happens, but since it’s not disgusting per se I’d probably have eaten it in a pinch (unlike, say, moldy food or meat that’s been sitting for a while).

      I also know of people with some insnae aversion to wasting food that lends them to claim moldy meat is still good to eat (mother of a friend) so if anyone is in a situation with someone like that it’s good to be aware of how dangerous some foods that might not seem as bad are.

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yeah, what you leave out is more important than how long you leave it for. This particular bacteria is only going to be a problem if you leave out the perfect medium for it to grow.

        It’s actually pretty hard for dangerous bacteria to grow in most foods, usually there’s not either not enough moisture or too much moisture, or the pH is too acidic and the bacteria will get outcompeted by things like environmental lactic acid bacteria, yeast, or even mold.

        If the food you want to save contains moisture and isn’t preserved via acid, salt, or sugar, please store it in the refrigerator.

    • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      2 months ago

      I heard 5 day leftovers and thought. “5 day fridge leftovers might give you the runs but won’t kill you” then I read the article. That’s not leftovers, that’s garbage. Dude was eating rancid garbage

  • randombullet@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    56
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    5 days without putting it into the fridge? That’s asking for trouble.

    I feel comfortable about 2-4 hours without a fridge, but I’ve occasionally left rice out 12 hours a few times with no issues. Same with pasta.

    • quixotic120@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      2 months ago

      4 hours max in the zone between 40 and 140F is the general guideline for risk. There are a lot of nuances to it like how pasteurization and sous vide cooking work but in general that’s a good rule of thumb

      • Doom@ttrpg.network
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        2 months ago

        Also to note that’s only if you’re gonna continue to store it.

        Food left out for more than four hours is safe to consume like pizza but if you’re not gonna finish it, trash it at that point you cannot store it anymore.

        • quixotic120@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          This is incorrect

          4 hours is the safe to consume cutoff per other agencies (like the center for food safety in the uk) but they agree foods that spent more that 2 hours in 40-140F shouldn’t be refrigerated, even if still safe to eat

          https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/trade_zone/safe_kitchen/Temperature_Danger_Zone.html

          The usda is far more conservative. Same basic guidelines but food should be refrigerated within an hour and discarded after 2. Dunno if this is reflective of changes in quality in the food supply or just more concern for liability

          https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/danger-zone-40f-140f

          Will you get food poisoning if you eat 6 hour old pizza? Frankly almost certainly not, but it depends on a number of factors like if and how it was handled, the holding temp during service, immunocompromised status, etc. real world studies on pizza specifically show fairly low bacterial growth on pizza that was prepared safely and not handled, but significantly more (although still pretty low) if the pizza was handled during serving (which is more realistic).

          But I mean literally millions of people eat rare beef every day without issue so it’s about how much risk you’re willing to tolerate, ultimately

          • DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            Rare beef is a bit of an anomaly in that the meat is quite dense, and while the surface can grow bacteria, the interior spolis much slower (not to say its safe forever, but can be safe eat cooked Pennsylvania rare, for example).

          • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            These recommendations pretty much always err on the side of caution to such a degree that a lot of people don’t really respect them. Saying you should throw away pizza after it has been in room temp for 2 hours, come on now, when there’s some actually serious recommendation peoole will think it’s similar sort of nonsense and not follow it.

        • ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.netOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          2 months ago

          We had a rule where if you left pizza out for 24 hours, it’s still good if you’re willing to have diarrhea butt.

          After 48 hours, it’s still good if you’re willing to vomit.

          In college, definitely had people who took those risks.

      • exasperation@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 months ago

        There is a persistent belief that cooked rice is exempt from the 4-hour rule. That belief is mostly wrong, because the water activity in cooked rice is still able to support a few hardy species of bacteria, including b. cereus (the bacteria that cause this illness), in some circumstances. It’s pretty rare, but possible, and therefore inevitable that it will eventually happen to people who fail to refrigerate rice.

    • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      2 months ago

      Cooked stuff is borderline if it spends 5 days in the fridge. 5 days NOT in the fridge is insanity.

        • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          9
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          2 months ago

          I know you CAN eat 5 day old stuff out of the fridge, but it’s at the point where I would be suspicious, depending on the item.

                • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  4
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  Ok well literally everything tells you not to do that. Do what you want, but general rule is 3-4 days for most meat things, and you should be careful at 5.

          • P00ptart@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            4
            ·
            2 months ago

            Same, it depends on the item and how I’m able to store it. BBQ i feel pretty comfortable keeping in the fridge for up to 5 days, but most things I try to keep down to 2 days. 3 at most. Certainly anything starchy like noodles or rice, potatoes and such, no more than 2.

    • Che Banana@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      Food needs to cool down to 4° (40f) within the 2-4hrs to be safe as a good rule.

      Rice is a dish I serve the meal with, then take the extra that is hot and put into a shallow container to cool at room temp while eating dinner & then refrigerate.

    • Im_old@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      36
      ·
      2 months ago

      I was doing something similar and even in the fridge at day 5 I could taste that it was borderline ok. At 5 days on the counter it must have tasted so fermented it was bubbling.

      Pasta and kimchi all in one.

      • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        2 months ago

        I wonder if it was like closed with a lid and wet or if it was kinda open an dry. Either way, after 5 days I would not eat either one. Fucking yuck!

        • toddestan@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          2 months ago

          It was sealed in an airtight container, Tupperware or something like that.

          Best case would be put it into a clean, dried container when the pasta is still steaming hot and seal it right away. But I still wouldn’t touch it after 5 days.

  • SeemsNormal@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    50
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 months ago

    It’s almost like the scientists who named this bacteria knew this would happen.

    You can’t… B. Cereus

  • Dasus@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    One Sunday, he cooked up some spaghetti, then put it in Tupperware containers so that days later, he could just add some sauce to it, reheat it and enjoy it.

    Five day old spaghetti sitting on a warm counter? Eww.

    I thought he made a pasta dish, and the kept eating that. What the hell, making the spaghetti is the easiest bit and barely take a longer than microwaving some disgusting old pasta.

    RIP this guy but I feel like we didn’t necessarily lose one of our sharpest minds.

    • way_of_UwU@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      I found out about this case through the chubbyemu video. Not sure how much of this was embellishment, but the way it’s explained in the video is that the pasta was left out for a couple days, then thrown into the refrigerator by a roommate who didn’t know it was probably bad. The guy then took out a portion of the pasta, completely unaware that it had gone rancid. Definitely a more believable mistake (although still pretty irresponsible of the meal prepper).

      • Entropywins@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        That’s why we don’t touch roommates food…they might kill you over it or you might poison them

        Couple weeks ago someone ate a can of Chilli out of my cupboard but last night someone put in a pack of Ritz crackers which were delicious btw

  • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    2 months ago

    Misleading title. He didn’t eat leftovers. He was eating rancid, spoiled food that had been left out for 5 days. He was eating garbage.

    Leftovers are when you store food in the fridge for a few days in a container.

    • Faresh@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      I’m surprised there wasn’t any mold after 5 days of being kept unrefrigerated.

    • emptiestplace@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      2 months ago

      Rancidity is unlikely to be a factor here, as it primarily affects foods high in unsaturated fats when exposed to oxygen over an extended period. Leftovers stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for just a few days won’t experience significant oxidation to cause rancidity.

      • psud@aussie.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        I think emptiestplace is correct. Rancidity is oxidation of fat. Highly saturated fats are very resistant to oxidation (it take a bit much energy to oxidize fully saturated fats)

        Beef tallow is highly saturated and is shelf stable for years

  • Sumocat@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    38
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 months ago

    Terrible headline. The bacteria that killed him is associated with ‘Fried Rice Syndrome’ but FRS is named for leftovers stored in the fridge, not uneaten food left on the counter.

  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    34
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    This thread is interesting. Everywhere ranging from “I eat pizza from the counter after 3 days” to “yeah I would never eat anything left out on the counter for over 2 hours”.

    And someone said everything in their fridge is food they cooked over 5 days ago… Why??

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      And someone said everything in their fridge is food they cooked over 5 days ago…

      I’ve been doing this for years and years. Maybe not wayyy more than 5 days but it is usually about a week. I don’t have all that much time after work so I don’t want to waste time cooking and I’m not wasting money on take out so I do all my cooking for the week on Saturday or Sunday. I don’t do what the poor kid in the article did though, if anything I put things in the fridge that are still way too hot but I never wanted to risk something like that.

      • Damage@feddit.it
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        if anything I put things in the fridge that are still way too hot but I never wanted to risk something like that.

        It’s better for food hygiene to go from hot to cold as fast as possible, it reduces the time it spends at the optimal temperatures for bacteria to grow. That’s what we do for example when we sterilize milk, tomato, etc.
        If your fridge can handle it, it’s not a problem AFAIK

        • Crashumbc@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          2 months ago

          Yeah the only concern is if you put too much hot food in at once or your fridge isn’t good, it can warm up other food in the fridge and cause it to spoil faster.

          • Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            I can’t verify this, but I’ve heard that modern fridges are better at maintaining cold air temp and so there’s an outdated concern for putting hot food in your fridge. Just don’t have your hot food touching another highly perishable food item.

            • Damage@feddit.it
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              2 months ago

              Even with older fridges, I feel like it’s a mostly unfounded concern; yeah sure, don’t go putting 15 liters of boiling soup in the fridge, but if you put 500g of cooked pasta into a 300l fridge, it’s not going to care. Bear in mind that the other food in the fridge also acts as a negative calories storage.

              • Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                2 months ago

                That tracks with me. My rule of thumb is if you can hold the container with your bare hands long enough to get it in the fridge, it’s not hot

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              2 months ago

              You’re probably right except in cases of heavy and especially heat-holding foods. in other words: May not be the best idea to put your still piping hot big pot of soup in the fridge

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yes, but that’s where the freezer comes in. We really should not be eating too many food items after being cooked then hanging in the fridge over 5 days. I consider myself a lot less concerned about this kind of thing than most people but I would tap out usually after 5-6 days. Seems risky and definitely not a habit I wanna get into.

    • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      The thing with food safety is that the rate of occurrence may be low in some cases, but the consequences can be extremely high or fatal. And eating is an activity that is repeated often. So following safe practices is extremely important.

  • BigBenis@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    Shoot I’ll leave rice on the counter all day sometimes… I should stop doing that.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      2 months ago

      I had a Vietnamese roommate who used his rice cooker so that he made a bunch if rice and always when he wanted more he just clicked the cooker on to reheat it. And it took him sometimes like five days to eat it.

      Five days of rice sitting in room temperature and occasionally being heated. Mental. That’s not food prep that’s a science experiment.

      Dude was also often opinion that meat only gets better when it starts to smell a little in the fridge and you’ll just pour a lot of soy sauce on it and down it goes with the forever rice.

      Apart from being a biowaste eating lunatic he was a good roommate.

        • Crashumbc@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          2 months ago

          I’ve heard many stories like that over the years.

          I’m of the (possibly wrong) theory that their gut bacteria have adapted to handle it. The same way you’ll get sick if you travel to India or Mexico, etc and drink the water but locals are fine…

    • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      Chubbyemu on YouTube. Watching his videos will change your approach to food safety as well as a lot of the ordinary things we often do or think about doing that are, in fact, extremely dangerous.

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        Lol I’m interested now, but the name made me think the channel was about a self-deprecating overweight fan of emulators…or large flightless birds, now that I think about it.

    • AgentGrimstone@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 months ago

      I leave mine in the rice cooker but no more than a day. It’s starts to get slimy after that and clearly inedible.

  • weariedfae@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    28
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    Again?!

    Edit: oops no. Same guy. I think about this all the time. Like…who raised him to leave pasta on the counter and then eat it?! The sheer ignorance baffles me.

    • Podunk@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 months ago

      Article says, college student… if you are suprised… i hate to break it to ya. They are all that dumb in one way or another. I know i was at least. And i know im not outside of the status quo in that regard.

      Hindsight and survivors bias. Also, super bad luck for that kid.

      • Crashumbc@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        2 months ago

        Second year in college, one of the guys in the dorm would buy whole pizzas from the food court. And just leave them under his bed while he ate them over several DAYS …

        • otp@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          2 months ago

          This is what happens when parents forget to teach their kids anything because “that’s why we have schools”.

          And kids grow up thinking “I already know everything, I went to school”