What is fried rice syndrome? Here's why it has been trending on social media

Fried rice syndrome has been trending all over social media after a death which occurred 15 years ago resurfaced on the internet.

A TikTok user, @jpall20, posted a viral video highlighting the story of a young man who died after eating five-day-old, unrefrigerated, leftover pasta. In the video, the user said, "For all the students and meal preppers out there, do not make your food, put it in a Tupperware, and then leave it on your counter for a week."

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TheJournal of Clinical Microbiologyoriginally published the case in 2011. The reports said the 20-year-old Belgium student died in 2008 after consuming five-day-old unrefrigerated spaghetti with tomato sauce.

After reheating and eating the pasta, he suffered from severe vomiting and gastrointestinal symptoms. The healthy young man died the next day. A late autopsy report revealed that he died of acute liver failure, and the pasta he ate contained large amounts of Bacillus cereus.

What is Fried Rice Syndrome?

Food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus is called fried rice syndrome. A Bacillus cereus infection can develop after eating food left at room temperature for short periods, even hours. It is a type of bacteria that forms spores that release harmful toxins, Robert Gravani, a Food Science professor at Cornell University, told TODAY.com.

Bacillus cereus thrives in pre-cooked starchy foods like rice and pasta. The optimal temperature range for its growth is between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

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The name "fried rice syndrome" comes from early documented cases linked to unrefrigerated cooked white rice used to make fried rice in restaurants. "Basically, the cooked rise is kept at an inappropriate temperature, warm enough that the spores can germinate and the spores make a heat-stable toxin," Dr Cynthia Sears, an expert on food-borne infections and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, said.

She emphasised that reheating the food won't kill or deactivate the toxins or spores that can make you ill.

Fried Rice Syndrome Symptoms & Prevention

Dr Gravani says that Bacillus cereus causes two forms of gastrointestinal illness: vomiting syndrome and diarrheal syndrome. Fried rice syndrome is the vomiting type. The incubation time is very short, and the symptoms usually kick in within one to six hours after ingesting the contaminated food. These symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

To prevent fried rice syndrome, one has to cook, cool and store food properly.

(With inputs from agencies)

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