Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So I just realized I ate some brown rice that had been used 10 DAYS ago. I mean, it was cooked, then stored in the fridge as leftovers. And I ate it today thinking it was only a few days old... okay??

Hopefully it doesn't bother your stomach, but just for future reference, old rice is not normally a good choice. It goes off very quickly and easily.

If it smelled fine should I be ok?

Eating old rice is a really bad idea, as they teach in food hygiene and safety classes. Although it's quite rare for it to happen, if you do get food poisoning from rice it can be very serious. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_cereus

Ok its not a for sure thing i get it? Its rare? That makes me worry a bit less...

You'll probably be fine, just try and remember for the future because if you do get it, you'll be laid out for a while. I don't even keep old rice in the fridge, it just goes straight in the compost.

When did you eat it?

90mins ago or so

You're probably fine. My advice is not to panic and just get on with your day. Oh, and throw away any rice you have left over!

Ok thx. My 4yr old had some too so im freaking out, ya know

Stuck, it would depend on how you reheated the 10 day old rice. I have some rice that I made at LEAST 2 weeks ago, I thought it would be moldy, but because there's very little moisture in this batch that I cooked, it's still fine.

Also I cooled this batch of medium grain j-rice down & had it placed in my -40 degree fridge within 2 hours.

I'm going to make a risotto out of it on Tuesday-Wednesday evening, so the 10-15 minutes it's going to take to get it to the desired consistency will kill off a majority of the pathogens that might have grown on it.

I'll also put in some freshly minced garlic in there maybe 2 minutes before I plate it for extra insurance.

I wouldn't serve it to anyone else, but I'll test it out on myself. I'm sure I'll live.

[*]In the future, don't offer "questionable leftovers" it to your children, because their immune systems usually aren't as developed/strong as yours.

[*]Make sure you give your little one some extra water & some fresh fruits for the rest of the day just in case.

Rice kept in the fridge should be fine for a few days. Ten days is probably too long, though. That "fried rice syndrome" is referring to rice that has been left out at room temp for a long time.

How about an unopened package of silken tofu that is two months past the date? I'm 99% sure that I'm going to pitch it, but part of me wonders if its okay.

How long can you leave rice in the fridge safely? I made rice on Thursday and was going to use it tomorrow (4 days).

http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghea ... TOme3y9KSM

That link says three days is the max. I would probably eat 4 day old rice but not any older than that.

The most important thing is to make sure your fridge is below 40 degrees F. A good temperature to aim for is 35 degrees.

If your fridge doesn't maintain this temperature, your food will DEFINITELY not last as long.

The more moisture your rice has, the faster it will go bad. The only reason my rice is still fine after 14+ days is I didn't add enough water.

Cross contamination will also increase the speed of spoilage & food poisoning if you don't properly reheat something.

Research how to "reheat leftovers" or "reheat foods properly".

You know, Leela had some of the rice (not a ton), and had projectile vomiting last night. I ate a lot more, and feel fine, but maybe I'll just let the rest of the leftovers go out of an abundance of caution.

Thank you for all the input. I never realized that old rice was a no-no.

How long do you leave chickpea cutlets in the fridge? I have a batch that is about 8 days old that I am going to toss...

with cutlets i always make a huge batch and freeze, only taking out when i need them. i would toss (or give them to dog, depending on his fart production capacity.....)

I eat that all the time because silken tofu can't be bought here, so I stock up on it when I can.

Whilst this is generally good advice, the toxins which bacillus cereus (the one which you find in rice) produce are not destroyed by heat or cooking, no matter how long you reheat it for. It is these toxins which cause the food poisoning.

NHS Direct (which is the National Health Service for the UK's web page, is written by health professionals and peer reviewed) recommends keeping rice no more than one day in the refrigerator after cooking. http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/can-reheati ... egoryID=51

By the way, I was fine and so was Sam.

You can freeze cooked rice: http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-bas ... ioned-rice

That's why they emphasis refrigerating the ingredients to 40 degrees F & lower within 4 hours.

The types of bacteria you're talking about I forget the name, but they form spores/shields over themselves.

The longer the food is left in the "danger zone" the more of them can grow. Once there's enough of that "bad" bacteria present on the food, you will get sick with a "food-borne" illness.

I know all about HACCP and the other protocols, but most people who aren't in the food industry don't care or just don't have the time to think about things like this.

Stuck, glad you & Sam are fine.

FYH cheeze. The exp. date is today, I opened it last night. I just need it till Friday to get by the sandwich week for the boyfriends lunch.

I really need to talk to the store's manager, a lot of the natural food stuff has been expired lately. :/

I think that is probably really a sell by date? In which case it is almost certainly good for a week past. You can freeze it, but that wouldn't be so good if you're slicing it on sandwiches.

I think it is sell by...It smells fine/looks fine. I just slice it every night when I make his lunch so freezing it would not be really good.

Not a problem - if kept way too long, the quality might deteriorate but it should be safe for many, many months past the date. Its only on fresh food or opened containers that we need to be super vigilant.