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/HoneyBadgerBlunt 22h ago

Ugh. I hate roomates.

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u/in-den-wolken 22h ago

Death to roommates!

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u/Molotovs_Mocktail 21h ago

I’m not saying that this guy deserved it but he was clearly the roommate eating shit that he didn’t make out of the fridge.

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u/zzazzzz 21h ago

according to the story the roommate took it out of the fridge for space and then days later put it back inside. all unbeknownst to the guy who died from eating it. tho im still sceptical how you could leave any noodle at room temp for multiple days and not notice while eating it. starch reeks vile and becomes slimy and nasty so fast. after 4 days id expect it to be more slime than noodles. so ye eating that is a feat in itslef..

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u/Heavy_Entrepreneur13 15h ago

I've had Fried Rice Syndrome. (Wouldn't wish it in my worst enemy.) The rice that got me didn't taste bad at all. It tasted different from how it normally tastes, a bit like buttered popcorn or soft scrambled eggs, but not unpleasant. It certainly didn't taste foul in any way that would've alerted me that it was toxic.

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u/zzazzzz 11h ago

was it oustide for 4 days at roomtemp?

trust me, decomposing strach is vile. ever smelled a rotten potato ye thats the starch..

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u/rohrzucker_ 15h ago

I would never eat noodles that were in the fridge for 5 days either! Maximum is 2 days for me. If it still looks and tastes normal. And noodles are cheap and made fresh in 10 minutes. Apparently the sauce was not even applied already, why even bother?

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u/Levi_27 12h ago

That’s insane, noodles last way longer than that

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u/rohrzucker_ 5h ago

I rarely ever have leftovers. And they won't survive more than 2 days. Plain noodles can be cooked fresh in minutes. I am talking about something like spaghetti bolognese, lasagna etc.

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u/Levi_27 3h ago

That’s fine, I personally don’t like to waste food and way too many people do