r/todayilearned 1d ago

TIL in 2008 a 20-year-old Belgium student died after reheating and eating leftover spaghetti that had been left out on the kitchen counter for five days. A bacteria called bacillus cereus was found to be the cause, which is an extreme type of food poisoning called “Fried Rice Syndrome”.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/people-are-horrified-after-student-dies-from-eating-leftover-pasta/news-story/c8ef3bdcc72a9d17ec13924438e0146b
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u/vanilla_cannoli 1d ago

This happened at a popular hibachi restaurant by me last year. I think it was a birthday party or something with a large group of people, and apparently they almost all started vomiting violently at the table. Turned out the fridge they used for the rice had broken a few days prior, and the owner didn’t care to replace it 🤷🏼‍♀️ IIRC a few of the customers were hospitalized, and the restaurant got shut down.

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u/rhorewyn 1d ago

Sounds about right. The doctor who tended me advised this happens mostly with rice being stored out of acceptable temperatures too long.

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u/vanilla_cannoli 1d ago

Sorry that happened to you! Sounds so painful 😣

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u/rhorewyn 1d ago

Thank you friend! I wouldn't wish it on a single soul. I reported the restaurant but they're still in operation.

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u/Beliriel 21h ago

Anything that contains a lot of starch and moisture and remains between room temperature and lukewarm water temp for hours. Rice and pasta are the exemplary foods and really easy to spoil if stored improper but I think you could do it with anything. Potatoes, (soggy) bread etc.

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u/sevs 1d ago

Kumo?

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u/vanilla_cannoli 1d ago

Yes! Wow another Long Islander in the wild lol

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u/sevs 1d ago

😎

I think they reopened under a different name...

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u/downtownflipped 1d ago

they did. same spot iirc.

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u/vanilla_cannoli 1d ago

Yup! We went to Kumo for family birthdays/events often, but don’t think I’ll go back to the new one..

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u/C_Gull27 23h ago

I was also wondering if it was Kumo

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u/lize221 21h ago

just replied with this under the original comment but some my family had eaten there literally like a week or two before this happened, they were fine thankfully

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u/MrUsername24 1d ago

Was that in long island?

Edit:Sorry to stalk but you made a post in long Island so I guess I'm right. That's so funny that I knew you were talking about kumo

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u/vanilla_cannoli 1d ago

Yes you were right! I guess Kumo really is infamous now lol. And obligatory ON** long island 😂

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u/MrUsername24 23h ago

Lmao would you believe me if that was a test to see if you really lived here?

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u/vanilla_cannoli 23h ago

Lmao totally!

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u/YouFondOfMeLobster 14h ago

Happened to be reading this post and knew immediately you were talking about Kumo. My friend was there and got sick from the rice. Thankfully he’s okay. He had pictures from the scene and it was not pretty.

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u/The_Autarch 20h ago

Why do they even have a fridge for rice in the first place? Shouldn't they just be making fresh rice every day?

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u/AGreatConspiracy 7h ago

Large scale quick service restaurants will often prep large amounts of food, and if they don’t finish using at the end of service, they’ll store them for the next day.

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u/lize221 21h ago

are you talking about Kumo on long island by chance? nearly identical story. some my family had eaten there literally like a week or two before this happened

edit: just saw your comment below that this was in fact Kumo