A bowl of overnight meal, 10th ICU? Can I eat rice overnight? Does reheating rice cause cancer?

A bowl of overnight meal, 10th ICU?

Xiao Li, 28, came home from work. He originally wanted to order takeout, but in order to save some money, he warmed up the egg fried rice overnight in the refrigerator and ate it.

Who knows, at first, Xiao Li only felt a faint stomachache, how could he know that the pain became more and more severe, and even began to vomit and have frequent diarrhea. Xiao Li, who couldn't stand it, was tossed and turned, and finally transferred to a large hospital for treatment.

The outpatient doctor was admitted to the Department of Gastroenterology with acute liver failure. At this time, Xiao Li's liver function and coagulation function were severely abnormal, accompanied by renal failure, suspected of food poisoning. After the first doctor received the laboratory report, he immediately transferred Xiao Li to the ICU for treatment.

Xiao Li's symptoms of poisoning were obvious, and his condition was in danger. The ICU doctor used an "artificial liver" to rescue . According to the whole blood test results, Xiao Li was infected with Escherichia coli. After antibiotic treatment, the situation gradually stabilized. He was treated in the ICU for a total of 10 days!

Escherichia coli is a normal intestinal flora that lives in the intestines of humans and animals, and it is also a pathogenic bacteria. When the body's resistance decreases, it can cause infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection, diarrhea, bacteremia, sepsis, etc., which is very dangerous. So can I still eat rice overnight?

1. Can I eat rice overnight?

There are three aspects to the health risks of overnight rice, one is the loss of nutrients, the other is the chemical substances in the food, and the third is the reproduction of microorganisms and the secondary pollution of bacteria. Common pathogenic microorganisms include: Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Listeria, etc. If food poisoning occurs, common symptoms include fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, etc.

Whether the food can be eaten overnight depends on the storage conditions.

For example, at room temperature, it is best not to eat leftovers, soups, cold dishes, and braised food overnight, as it is easy for bacteria to exceed the standard and cause diarrhea. And according to WHO recommendations, cooked food should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours . This is because when the food is cooled to 60°C, bacteria will begin to grow, and when it drops to 30°C to 40°C, bacteria will multiply vigorously . Therefore, it is recommended to store the rice in the refrigerator while it is still hot.

Many people will wait for the rice to cool before putting it in the refrigerator, for fear of breaking the refrigerator. But no matter what kind of food, the longer it sits at room temperature, the more microorganisms thrive.

And even in the environment of the refrigerator, the bacteria only inhibit the growth, it does not mean that the growth is stopped, so even if it consumes a little electricity, for the sake of health, it should be put in the refrigerator earlier.

As for the nitrite content in overnight food, generally speaking, it is difficult to cause acute poisoning when stored properly, after all, it is still far from the poisoning dose. But overnight meals not only taste bad, but most of the nutrients have been lost, so it is recommended to eat as little as possible.

**Source: Health Guide

**2. Will reheating rice cause cancer?

The statement that the second heating of rice causes cancer is that some people think that heating cannot eliminate the toxins produced by the bacteria in the rice, so there is a risk of cancer.

In fact, rice may grow bacteria during storage, but there is no direct link between reheated rice and cancer.

In addition to the statement that reheating rice can cause cancer, there are also rumors that after reheating chicken, the protein in it will produce protein degradation products after storage, which can harm the liver and kidneys, and also have the risk of cancer.

In fact, the degradation products of protein are only amino acids and polypeptides, and these two substances do not pose the risk of harming the liver and kidney. This statement is not credible.

3. Guidelines for proper storage of overnight food

In addition to putting it in the refrigerator in time as mentioned above, doing the following points is also conducive to reducing risks.

The first is to reduce the use of chopsticks and other utensils to turn them over to avoid cross-infection. Store in a fresh-keeping box and plastic wrap to ensure its airtightness;

Followed by separate storage, cooked food and raw food are strictly separated to avoid cross infection. It is best to divide a large portion of food into several portions to speed up the heat dissipation of the food;

Also, store leftovers refrigerated (2~8°C) and eat them as soon as possible.

Be sure to warm up leftovers before eating to kill bacteria completely. The so-called "heating through" means that the whole dish is heated to 100 ℃, and the water in the steamer is kept boiling for more than 3 minutes. If it is meat, it must be heated for more than 10 minutes before eating.

4. 4 kinds of food are not recommended overnight

Although the overnight tea that is covered with plastic wrap or fresh-keeping box and stored in time can be eaten, the following types are still recommended to be eaten "fresh".

·Soup

It is best to scoop out the amount of soup you want to drink first, and it is best to store the unfinished soup in a clay pot in the refrigerator. Chemical reactions may occur if placed in stainless steel or aluminum pots for a long time.

· Bulk lo-mei

Braised vegetables themselves have hidden food safety hazards, and even if the leftovers are kept in the refrigerator, it is difficult to inhibit the growth of bacteria, such as psychrophilic bacteria.

· Tremella

The foamed white fungus and fungus are easily contaminated by Pseudomonas coconut, which can produce high temperature-resistant rice yeast acid toxin at room temperature. Generally, it can be processed and used after running for 1-2 hours. It is not suitable for storage and soaking for too long.

·Egg

If it is not sterilized eggs, half-boiled eggs are not completely sterilized, and eggs are rich in nutrients, which are particularly easy to breed bacteria, so it is best not to stay overnight.

Occasionally eat one or two overnight meals, and you may not have any problems with your body. However, many pathogenic and harmful bacteria cannot be identified with the naked eye, so for safety reasons, it is recommended to cook as much as you want, which is not afraid of waste, and can also avoid food safety problems.

References:

[1] "1 bowl of overnight meal, 10th ICU! 》. China Medical Tribune. 2021-09-17

[2] "Some leftovers can't be saved by the refrigerator, don't be soft when throwing them away". Nutshell. 2019-01-22

[3] "A bowl of overnight dishes can cause kidney failure! These 8 overnight dishes are useless in the refrigerator, I would rather waste them than eat them! 》. DrX said. 2021-12-06

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