
We don’t live in a perfectly safe world and you can never totally avoid all risk of food poisoning. If you’re interested in the specifics of how the bacteria does its nasty work, check out the FDA’s appropriately-titled Bad Bug Book. However, it may more severely affect those with compromised immune systems and young children. Reheating the rice won’t kill those spores.įor most adults, food poisoning from cooked rice contaminated with bacillus cereus subsides within 24 hours without serious or permanent injury. you leave it on a counter to cool instead of being put into the refrigerator within 2 hours), the bacteria spores grow and produce a toxin that can make you sick. Uncooked rice can contain spores of bacillus cereus and those spores survive cooking. However, rice can also be a source for food poisoning. Most people associate foodborne illnesses with meat or fruits and vegetables. Even if your eyes are glazing over at this point, listen up if you cook – or just eat – rice. However, feeding her kids rice and beans left unrefrigerated for hours would might well sicken them in a rather unpleasant way. It’s unlikely she would kill any of them. Why shouldn’t she feed her family the room temperature food that had been left on the counter, even though it smelled and looked fine? Leaving cooked rice unrefrigerated all day is dangerous, especially for small children and those with immune-compromised systems. The short answer is that she absolutely should throw it out. No doubt having a 2-year old watching her every move added to my friend’s sense that starting from scratch was a much-less-than-ideal solution. It was an appetizing and healthy one-pot meal.

Tired, she was loath to throw out what was supposed to be that night’s dinner. When my friend got home from work, she found the pot still unrefrigerated.
CLEAN POT SURVIVE THE NIGHTS FULL
Due to a miscommunication with her babysitter, a full pot of rice, veggies, and black beans sat on the counter all day. Last week a friend sent me an urgent text.

How long should you leave cooked rice unrefrigerated?
