How long should you leave cooked rice unrefrigerated?
Last week a friend sent me an urgent text. Due to a miscommunication with her babysitter, a full pot of rice, veggies, and black beans sat on the counter all day.
When my friend got home from work, she found the pot still unrefrigerated. Tired, she was loath to throw out what was supposed to be that night’s dinner.
It was an appetizing and healthy one-pot meal. 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. What should she do?
The short answer is that she absolutely should throw it out. Leaving cooked rice unrefrigerated all day is dangerous, especially for small children and those with immune-compromised systems.
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?
It’s unlikely she would kill any of them. However, feeding her kids rice and beans left unrefrigerated for hours would might well sicken them in a rather unpleasant way. The culprit would be bacillus cereus. Even if your eyes are glazing over at this point, listen up if you cook – or just eat – rice.
Most people associate foodborne illnesses with meat or fruits and vegetables. However, rice can also be a source for food poisoning.
Uncooked rice can contain spores of bacillus cereus and those spores survive cooking.
When rice cools slowly (i.e. you leave it on a counter to cool instead of being put into the refrigerator within 2 hours), bacteria spores grow and produce a toxin that can make you sick.
Reheating the rice won’t kill those spores.
For most adults, food poisoning from cooked rice contaminated with bacillus cereus subsides within 24 hours without serious or permanent injury. However, it may more severely affect those with compromised immune systems and young children.
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.
We don’t live in a perfectly safe world and you can never totally avoid all risk of food poisoning. But here are some tips to keep you healthy.
Tips to Help Minimize the Risk of Sickness from Cooked Rice
- Once you cook rice, cool any leftovers (including dishes containing rice) quickly. Ideally refrigerate it within 1 hour, though some authorities say within 2 hours is OK. If you have a lot of rice, transfer it to a clean, wide container. The rice cools more quickly if you spread it in a thinner layer, rather than leave it piled up.
- Refrigerate rice only for a short period of days. According to numerous food safety experts, you should only refrigerate cooked rice for 1 day. I have kept rice for 4-5 days, the storage time considered allowable by the USA Rice Federation. But after researching for this post, I will aim to use or throw away (refrigerated) cooked rice after 1-2 days.
- Reheat cooked rice only once.
Now that I have researched rice safety, I’m in a bit paranoid.
But I do love rice, not to mention all kinds of dishes in which it is a major component.
Intellectually, I know bacteria does not lurk in every pot of rice I make or serve. Still, I feel like a medical student who gets every disease they read about.
So, to ease my mind, I’m going to re-read this wonderful piece from Harold McGee on sensible, real world balancing of risk and cooking reward.
John Aniceto says
I have eaten cooked rice that was unrefrigerated for 3 days while I was in China. Never got sick. Many people who live in the countryside do not have access to refrigerators and have traditionally left rice in room temperature with no problem.
motherwouldknow says
John, I don’t doubt that most of the time unrefrigerated rice is OK to eat, but the advice of food safety experts in this country and elsewhere (I only speak English, so my research on this topic was limited to English-speaking countries) was that it’s important to refrigerate it. And there have been cases of illness that were traced to unrefrigerated rice.
Andrew says
I can vouch for this, left rice out for a day and now liquids are coming out of both ends of me. Learnt the hard way, reason why I am on this website, wanted to confirm what I just experienced. I won’t make this mistake again.
Dpak . says
Hahaa very apt way to answer it
Mark lee says
How about cooking rice in a rice cooker and just click warm and you can it eat for breakfast lunch and dinner. But the bad thing about it is the electricity bill.
Laura says
I know lots of people do that, and apparently most of them do not get sick from the rice staying warm for hours. My research does suggest, however, that some people may get sick from rice that remains warm for hours. I think that holds true for rice kept in a rice cooker.
Sandy says
I leave cooked rice on the stove in the pot is was cooked in for a day or two all the time and I have never gotten sick. I even have a compromised immune system so I would be curious to hear from anyone who has gotten sick from eating rice that has been left at room temp for more than a few hours or more.
Laura says
Sandy, I do know of someone (a friend of the friend who initially caused me to write the post) – he got quite sick and was hospitalized. I understand that such cases are rare, but they do occur.
Mike Partusch says
I’ll let ya know in a few hours ; ) I just had three healthy spoonfuls of leftover Spanish rice, tasted great ; )
Laura says
Chances are you’ll be fine. But if you’re not, you know you heard it here. Hope you’re one of those who don’t suffer any ill effects.
Maryjane says
A friend of mine left beans and rice out for how long? I don’t know. But the rice turned purple. Should have alerted Young bachelors.
He served it to his friend who within hours ended up in the emergency room. I’m noticing that my daughter’s dog is being very sick. They’re putting rice in w his food but it sits there for hours. I think it’s the rice.
Laura says
Ugh. Sorry to hear about that. Some don’t get sick, but those who do….
Andrew Ramsden says
I can confirm this, i am currently experiencing this. Won’t make the same mistake again. Was basmati rice, not that it makes a difference… Wish me well
Laura says
Andrew – Oh dear!! I hope you get better soon. Sorry you had to learn this lesson the hard way.
Arlette says
On growing up on an island near South Africa, we eat cooked rice twice a day. Sometimes mothers cook lots of rice, to save cooking tiime. Pots of rice were left at room temperature and warmed and eaten. Though some people mentioned, Rice is best cooked once a day , warm only once. Some did it or some didn’t. Moving to Europe , I watched tv, rice should be cooked and eat not to leave and reheat. Now in Ozie land . I cooked rice and warm it , I have a problematic immune system. Thank God had not been sick. Is this to do with the quality of rice ?
Laura says
John, I’m not a scientist, but I don’t think that any current immune system problems you might have would be due to the rice you ate as a child. The issues I spoke about in the blogpost come from the immediate repercussions of leaving cooked rice at room temperature. Of course, for your medical issues, you should consult appropriate medical professionals.
Hannah says
Same. Me and my folks used to live in a rather low income area, and because of things, sometimes the rice for the day just gets left in the countertop. It’s clean and hasn’t make anyone sick. A friend of mine suggested it might be because we’ve built a tolerance to it but I’m not quite sure.
I also have noticed the white rice that survives for a few days are the type that is dry and matutong as folks here would phrase it. The fluffy ones don’t last as long though.
Cinthia says
I think these people have immune systems that are used to it and the bacteria no longer makes them sick. My aunt from Central America came over last week and cooked a big meal. She left it out the entire time and then her, her daughter, husband and I had it for Dinner. I was in the bathroom most of the night while they were perfectly fine. I later found out the rice was out for over 8 hours and I am pretty sure my stomach isn’t used to that so I was the only one sick. My aunt said she does this all the time at home.
Laura says
Cinthia, The immune system idea makes sense to me. Hope you enjoy your rice dishes and stay healthy.
Jules says
That’s true. You tell that to a Filipino and he or she will look at you as if you had 3 eyes. And it’s hot over there, no fridge usually. However, I just read an article on Yahoo today about a Massachusetts student whose two legs and fingers were just amputated, and a lot of his organs started to shut down after eating leftover rice and pasta left outside for awhile. His room mate only got vomiting and diarrhea I believe, which the former also got. He or she was lucky, like many of us have I guess… As a rice eater (I’m Cuban) who has diabetes and often leaves rice outside for up to 6 hours before putting it in the fridge (I leave it outside for a little bit to cool down for an hour or two, but I always forget about it), I will make sure to set the alarm up or throw the Spanish rice away.
Asian Kid says
Hi, I live in Asia and rice is a staple food here. From where I’m from we don’t refrigerate rice once cooked. We just leave it in the rice cooker throughout the day and reheat it again if we want to eat. I’ve been eating rice throughout my whole life that have been left at room temperature for more than 2 hours and have yet to fall sick because of it. Maybe it’s the Americans cook the food that cause the rice not to last that long or maybe it’s just a paranoid American culture.
motherwouldknow says
I have definitely heard that leaving rice uncooked is common in Asia and among households who follow Asian cultural and cooking practices elsewhere. I can’t account for the differences in advice and practices – I can only tell you that I provided is from food safety experts in the US. and for sure, not everyone who follows practices that might promote food poisoning get sick.
I says
Maybe its both🤔
Jonathan says
Just poking around Google, my girlfriend got very sick eating some cooked rice that she had left on the counter for 1-2 days. I never would eat anything that isn’t refrigerated right away pretty much, I don’t care what it is. The only thing I don’t put in the fridge is bananas, because the peel protects them, but even apples I can’t stand eating them when they’re not cold so they last longer that way anyway. Rice, I can’t imagine eating when it’s been sitting out, that’s just gross. Now my GF is throwing up in the bathroom so I’m pretty sure that’s what it is since she felt fine just before eating it.
Laura says
Jonathan, So sorry that your girlfriend got sick, presumably from room temperature cooked rice. I know that it’s not a common problem, but when it happens, it’s awful. Please make sure that she gets good care and that she sees a doctor or goes to a hospital or urgent care center if necessary. Glad your’e there with her.
Mike Partusch says
she mighta gotten ‘sick’ of her germaphobe bf ; )
Laura says
haha
Ian McCulough says
Mike, you seen to be obsessed with being sarcastic and disbelieving people, I think that the ones eating bad rice are not really the sick ones. ; )
Frieda says
Great post. Am wondering if there is a greater tolerance of the bacteria for those who have over the years consistently eaten rice left at room temperature. I think it all boils down in part to what your system is use to. A double blind test maybe? One group being cross cultural paranoid tendencies.
Laura says
Thanks Frieda. Of course, I’d be interested in the results of a double-blind test, but I don’t know of anyone in the scientific community doing such a study.
Jean says
I have always made fried rice with leftover cooked rice that was refrigerated ( they recommend cold rice for making fried rice). Sometimes it’s 3 or 4 days old. Never had a problem.
Laura says
As I mentioned in the post, the USA Rice Federation says it’s OK to keep cooked rice (refrigerated for 3-4 days), though others recommend throwing it out after 1-2 days refrigerated.
Bayan says
I was reading this and I’m like uhm… I’ve left cooked rice at room temp for long periods of time and I don’t get sick… just reheat it’s and or eat at room temp and it’s delicious 🤤
Laura says
Bayan, Not everyone will get sick and rice left at room temperature is often fine. It’s just that leaving it at room temperature for many house is playing what we call “Russian Roulette.” If you get sick from it, you won’t be a happy camper.
Rahmon says
Same after my household cooks the rice we just leave it out and reheat it when we are hungry for it again for WAY MORE than 2 hours we’ve been doing this since i been alive and no one has ever been sick … and im not asain btw … i just realized you posted this in 2014 and it is not 2020 so you probably won’t see this
Laura says
Rahmon, I did see your comment and I appreciate your feedback. The possibility that someone will get sick is simply that – a possibility. I understand that in many households rice is left out and no one gets sick, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t illnesses that can be traced back to leaving rice at room temperature for a long time. Hope you continue to stay healthy and thanks for stopping by.
Ian McCulough says
Asian Kid: If healthy food practises is paranoia, I can only thank luck and charm to your survival in Asian culture.
I wish you well and lots of health!
Josh says
I agree.
I eat have eaten Jasmine rise ever since I can remember. I’ll cook it and leave it in the pot for a day and sometimes eat it cold as a snack…. Never been sick.
My kids as well as their mom.
tamika b says
Thank you so much because i was about to make a bad mistake. i just have to live with the fact that i wasted some rice by leaving it out lastnight.
motherwouldknow says
Glad to have helped Tamika. I know it hurts to throw food away, but better safe than sorry.
nanny says
Bullsh1t
nanny says
Actually im going to agree with the Asian kid, when I was in Thailand, some people live in shacks, they don’t even have electricity, and that means no fridge. As I was reading this article, I thought it was bulldust right to the last word.
Think about this, after you cook rice, its sterile, if u leave out in a clean container or even in the pot u cooked it in, its all sterile, now if we were to believe what the writer of this article was saying, then every chef in every restaurant would have to throw out all their cooking utensils and pots becos of this "bacteria" thing u mentioned.
Well guess what, They don’t throw their pots out.
On the other hand, if u cooked meat and or seafood with the rice, then YES, you could get sick and yes ur bacterial theory might have some substance.
But rice cooked on its own, is fine at room temperature all day long, and that’s a fact
motherwouldknow says
I do understand that in some cultures rice is left at room temperature, but the article is based on scientific study. Which isn’t to say that everyone who eats rice left at room temperature gets sick, just that it is a fertile ground for the growth of bacteria.
Maria Elena Bilar says
Mechanically dried rice spoils fast, but sun-dried rice has no signs of being spoiled even after 12 hours at room temperature. But to be safe, cook rice good for one setting only. No more left over.
Laura says
Interesting factoid Maria Elena. How/where did you learn that? Thanks for stopping by.
Jay says
I’ll add a dash of Hispanic wisdom to the sprinkles of Asian advice. I grew up in a household with a Colombian mother, where rice was a staple. No dinner was complete without rice. It was more common than not that a pot of rice was left out at room temperature until it was fully eaten. Not once did I ever get sick.
I think here in this country we’re excessively concerned with germs. I don’t doubt that scientific studies prove that certain microbes might survive or even flourish in an environment like an unrefrigerated pot of rice. But we’re a pretty hardy species, and I daresay our ancestors hundred of thousands of years ago were a little less "careful" about "food safety", and if that had been a serious problem none of us would be here posting and reading on the internet.
Jordz da muss says
That’s a valid point mate. Maybe different cultures and races have been eating rice and being abit kicked back about the food safety side of it that they have built up a higher immune system to the bacteria found in rice after being left unrefrigerated. Maybe the westerners of the world have a lower immune system…. just a thought.
Laura says
Your theory is plausible – I don’t know the reason, but I do know of at least one person (a “westerner”) who got violently and seriously ill after eating rice that had been left at room temperature for an extended period.
Lina says
Another Colombian here!
I completely agree with you. My American boyfriend shared with me this article, he was really concerned about the risk of eating left over rice that was not in the refrigerator.
When I cook rice, I tend to leave it on the same pot for up to a day without refrigeration, and if at the end of the day I still have some left, I put it onto a plastic container in the refrigerator. I have had rice, that is “at least” 5 days old, and fed my child who is now 13 years old (born in USA) and NEVER we have gotten sick from it.
When there is rice in the refrigerator, it is great to complete any meal; our favorite way to eat it is: mixed with chopped tomato and lime,or eggs with rice (arroz con huevo) …yummy!
Summary: My grandma and mom in Colombia will laugh if I share your rice “science” theory with them.
I DID laugh a lot when my boyfriend talked to me about it.
ENJOY RICE!
Laura says
Haha – so we’re all in agreement. It depends where you are as to whether this scientific information is convincing. Enjoy rice whichever school of thought you follow.
Bayan says
Love this!!!!
Ian McCulough says
“and I daresay our ancestors hundred of thousands of years ago were a little less “careful” about “food safety”
You’re missing one point, our dear Jay, our ancestors died at 30 years old, or even less.
Mostly because of diseases. There was not cardiac issues or many cancers back then. Yes. It was food poisoning and infections that killed people back then.
Read up on it, it’s interesting!
Bob says
I guess you could clean your cooked rice with soapy water same way those chefs clean their pots, but I don’t think I’ll be joining you.
Vincent Bilodeau says
Actually, cooked food is not necessarily sterile. Think about it, rice is dry when uncooked. You pour water while cooking it, adding a new element to the equation.
Now I don’t know if food is safe or not in which situation, blabla… but that would be wrong to assume that cooked food will last longer. It really depends how you cook it. Here, rice is mixed with water, and water usually accelerate the spoiling of food. Also, there are a lot of bacterias that survives some heat.
As a matter of fact, rice will last very long uncooked, and when you cook it, even if you refrigerate it, there is a point where it becomes spoiled, and that point comes much faster for cooked rice than uncooked rice.
Laura says
I’d agree that cooked rice isn’t made sterile by the cooking process. And I think we’re in agreement on the bottom line – cooked rice can contain bacteria and can spoil – the only question is how long it takes to become unfit to eat.
ROBERT says
I COOK RICE AND LEAVE IT 24 HOURS THEN COOK IT AGAIN, THEN REFRIGERATE AND REHEAT IT AND THEN TOSS OUT, NEVER GOT SICK YET
Laura says
Robert, Not sure why you’ve got 2 comments just minutes apart. But as I said, I’m glad you haven’t had any problem leaving rice out.
Heather says
I, too, was just thinking the same thing about serving Seafood with rice as to why they could be getting sick. But, yeah, I truly think it’s all science fiction, because if cooking rice doesn’t kill the spores then why bother to eat, let alone buy rice, let alone why would supermarkets and stores still be selling it if it were so dangerous. it’d be more dangerous than lead paint, and other things that contain lead, as Walmart is eliminating items containing lead. But, I’ve not gotten sick off rice, nor has anyone else in my house… and neither has my dad whose taken rice to work for lunch that had been sitting out for 8 hours or more and put in the fridge…
Susan says
Last night I left cooked rice in a covered glass jar on counter (accidently). Put in fridge this a.m. & went on internet to see if it was ok to eat again. Really don’t want to toss it out as it was almost 2 cups. In 60 years of cooking I don’t recall any digestive problems from leaving food out of refrigerator longer than suggested. Usually careful to refrigerate leftovers soon but have a distraction & forgetful problem so doesn’t always happen in recommended timeframe.
Laura says
Susan, As I think (hope) the psot makes clear, not everyone will get sick from rice left out. IN fact many people, maybe most won’t get sick. However some people will get sick and you never know who that will be. Hopefully not you.
creed says
Left out Nasi goreng rice dish all night and all day just reheated and eaten let’s see what happens, will let you know tomorrow!!!!!?
motherwouldknow says
So what happened? Hopefully all is well. After all, many people do not get sick from rice left at room temperature. It’s just a caution.
Ian McCulough says
He didn’t reply, so we know that your post was right! 😀
Dare says
Thanks for info – was curious about how did cold rice salads without potentially causing problems for elderly since their immune systems not as good. I will cook rice separately, cool quickly and refrigerate. Then add the rest of the salad to it just before serving. I note that some are Asian and some Western but I really don’t fancy using them as guinea pigs to find out if Westerners aren’t as hardy to any bacteria!
Laura says
Dare, Sounds like a good plan.
Hope says
Reading through all the comments here, I cannot help but wonder if, in the places/cultures where cooked rice is left unrefridgerated and eaten throughout the day, that the people who have been doing this for a long time do not develop a tolerance to certain bacteria that can be present in the cooked rice?? That would explain why they say it never hurt them. Any science on this?
motherwouldknow says
Hope, I’ve looked for a scientific explanation for why some cultures leave rice out and the only explanation I can find is that only a few people will be adversely affected if rice is left out for hours unrefrigerated, so in those cultures the few who get sick from this practice aren’t identified as such. I’ll keep looking though – it is curious.
Puzzling says
I’m a little confused as the chance of Bacillus cereus becoming an issue in cooked rice is the same as it growing on potatoes, which it’s a common practice to not store potatoes in a fridge in both Western and Eastern culture. The only issue I’d see with rice and bacteria is if something besides water and rice were brought into the equation such as egg on rice being left out.
I grew up in Asia and then moved to the US and I haven’t seen anyone get sick from rice that was even a few days old (plain white rice) not saying it can’t happen as rice does eventually go bad. The chances of getting sick from rice that’s been left out for a few days is negligible as it is on par with the same chance of getting sick from Bacillus cereus growing on potatoes that aren’t stored in a fridge. I’m also confused as a lot of the articles stating to not leave rice out for more than a few hours have no source material showing a control group or experiment that was performed just a link to a health website saying it CAN happen, not the likelihood or any actual study.
Laura says
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I believe bacillus cereus is found on potatoes too. And I do know that cooks in Asian cultures often leave rice out unrefrigerated. From what I could tell from the sources I consulted (and I have no expertise in public health or any biological science field), the chances of getting sick from eating rice left unrefrigerated are low. Still, for my friend, whose kids are young, it didn’t seem worth the risk. I would be interested in any study of the frequency of illness due to this cause if you come upon such a study.
Mike Partusch says
ya know a lot of this has truth but it doesn’t often hold true…health ‘experts’ typically consider worse case scenarios rather than probabilities it seems to me…we commonly eat such things as raw eggs, steak tartare, sushi…heck, potato skins prepared in a restaurant can sit for long periods of time before being reheated and served.
Laura says
Mike, I’d agree that it’s about worst case scenarios when health experts look at the situation, while for most of us it’s a matter of probabilities when we have to decide whether to eat a particular food. Still, it’s useful to know what can happen.
StatsAreInTheEyeOfBeholder says
We live in a world with bacteria its everywhere. In us, on us, most of us. It just a precaution, yes you can get sick but for the normal health immune system the probabilities are low. But again if your talking probabilities almost anything can happen. Still this is good for anyone with compromised immune systems
motherwouldknow says
Agreed. Thanks for stopping by and for being so level-headed about this subject.
German says
Mother, just admit that you were flatly wrong. Didn’t you notice that not one single person reported getting sick from eating rice left out of the fridge? Didn’t you notice that everyone said that in just about every culture rice has been left out, even during days, and no one got sick? Thanks for writing, anyway!
Kathy says
Actually I remember at least two people on this string saying they’d gotten sick from rice that had been left out for a long time. One said he had “liquid coming out both ends” and another said his girlfriend was in the bathroom throwing up. And I think there was another one.
Christina says
I have gotten VERY sick from eating rice that I had left unrefrigerated, so I know that it is possible.
Elden Eichler says
I appreciate the article and the research. I’ve never been knowingly sickened by unrefrigerated rice either, but am not anxious to do so. Also, we have a one year old in the house, and I’m sure not going to use him as a test subject. I will try to follow the guidelines. I will follow good science over anecdotal evidence every time.
Laura says
Elden, Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I know in some cultures, they leave rice at room temperature, but after doing this research I just couldn’t do that. Why take the risk?
David says
Yes, I also am living in Asia right now and rice left out is completely normal. Quite honestly, I am beginning to think it is processed differently or something. I have left rice out in America and could visibly see it go bad before too long….I have never seen that where I am living now in Asia. My rice always went bad much faster in America. Maybe that is just the way I remember it though. Have not had a single issue in Cambodia from rice though (not the case in other places I have been).
Laura says
David – It’s so interesting that the problem seems to be in Western countries. Much of the public health information upon which I based my conclusion came from England, where apparently folks have gotten sick from rice left out in South Asian restaurants. I wonder if you are right that there is something different about the rice – or the environment – between countries. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Belladonna J. says
Is there any food that can be left out safely??
Laura says
Sure. Fruits and vegetables that are not mixed with eggs or rice. For example ratatouille.
Charles says
For many, steamed rice left in the pot at room temperature for a day or two is fine. Every week I make a pot of rice that sits on the counter for about 3 days for lunch and dinner. Refrigerating steamed rice ruins it. If you want to safely keep rice for a few days at room temp so it won’t dry out in the fridge, add a small splash of white distilled or rice vinegar to the cooking water. This will give the rice a slightly similar flavor akin to sticky or sushi rice. To reheat rice and bring back its perfect texture, sprinkle water over a bowl of rice and cover the surface of the rice with a damp paper towel then microwave for 20 to 60 seconds. You can let it steam for a minute after microwaving; either way, stir the rice gently to break any clumps and restore the consistency. Viola! Re-steamed rice!
Laura says
Charles, Thanks for your comments. I use a similar approach for re-heating rice. But I’d never heard of the rice vinegar tip – sounds interesting. I do know that many other cultures (especially those in Asia), leave rice at room temperature and I don’t know of any public health studies about whether that causes problems for those who follow that practice.
ROBERT says
To make thai fry rice you need day old rice, best leave in rice cooker, then make thai fry rice, refrigerated it and eat next day, then toss out remainder, never got sick yet
Laura says
Robert, I do know that others have the same experience as you. I can only say that there is a risk and I’m glad you’ve avoided problems thus far.
Les Coote says
In 1980, we went to visit a relative. We went to a local pub for a few drinks and returned to a cold buffet that the hostess had prepared some hours previously. One of the dishes was a cold rice and mixed vegetable mix. I love rice and had nothing else that afternoon. My wife ate none of the rice.
We were staying with other relatives that evening. On arriving at their house I had to excuse myself and visit the bathroom. Within minutes I was gripped with the most excruciating colic, and started vomiting. Because I was taking a long time, my wife came to the door, fortunately I was able to open it.
She had to hold me sitting on the bowl while (fortunately the toilet was near the bath tub) I was vomiting into the tub and voiding my innards up to my tonsils from the opposite end.
Eventually after this double Vesuvius had finished erupting, I went embarrassingly to bed.
The nest day I was fine, no symptoms at all apart from hunger as I was completely empty.
I had cause to visit my doctor a couple of days later for an unrelated matter and mentioned to him what had occurred. After a few questions he was adamant that it was the rice and said he saw quite a few cases of this. He warned me never to leave rice unrefrigerated. That was 37 years ago.
Yesterday, I was reading a recipe by Rick Stein for Naseng Goring, where he said to cook the rice and leave it to cool naturally, not in the fridge before proceeding with the rest of the dishes ingredients. No mention of time.
So even the experts know little of this.
Laura says
Les, I’m so sorry that you had that awful experience. I have heard from a few others – although it apparently isn’t common, food poisoning from rice does unfortunately happen. Glad you recovered well.
Lois says
I was very sick after eating rice in a fast food place in Toronto. When I informed them about it after I recovered, they refused to take responsibility for leaving it out. I thought that was very uncool. A restaurant should have a better sense of social responsibility than that. And your posts about no one getting immediately sick do not impress me since bacteria can build up in ones system over time and wreak havoc in a person’s body. I know people who have had this happen in a Latin country where we all lived for years.
Laura says
Lois, I’m sorry to hear that you got sick and hope that others heed the warning.
Basmati Rice says
Basmati rice is a type of rice grown in the Himalayas and Pakistan. It is a long grain rice that is characterized by a light nutty flavor. … When cooked, the rice is lighter
and more fluffy than standard white rice and does not stick together.
Anon says
Why is rice just mentioned as “rice” in all these comments, as if they are all referring to the same thing, when they’re not. Rice from a restaurant is different than rice cooked in a village of rice farmers. More industrial places get their food processed and handled by changing hands and varied conditions of these places where they get transferred from far away places before reaching their destinations by trucks with freezers. There’s dry individual packaged rice with dried seasonings. There’s frozen rice from grocery stores. There’s mixed grain. There’s the big sack of pure white rice. There’s brown rice. There’s meals prepared where rice is cooked with only water. There’s rice sides mixed with vegetables while cooking. How do we know it was not tomatoes or something that was mixed with the rice meal someone ate who got sick? No one just eats “rice.”
I grew up poor and when I was real young I did have to eat just white rice sprinkled with salt with my cousin once. Or soy. We didn’t have refrigerator then.
Laura says
You make a good point that there are different kinds of rice. However, the research I cited was by public health authorities and academics who know how to isolate variables and reported on their conclusions (about the rice served being the source of illness) in accordance with scientific standards for that type of research.
riddhi says
If we start thinking of following everything scientific study would say, I’m sure we would be not eating rice or most things in first place. For 30 yrs my family, me, people around me (rice is our staple food) have been cooking it once in morning and consume it different times of the day. it’s very normal for us to leave the rice out the whole day and not refrigerate it.
Laura says
Riddhi, I’m not surprised that your family eats rice kept at room temperature and that no one has gotten sick from that practice. As I mentioned in the post, the studies don’t mean that everyone will get sick or even that many people will. It’s just that some people have – and I do know at least one person who got violently ill from room temperature rice.
Elizabeth says
Yes, your theory is true. I get sick after leaving my cooked rice for some hour, then reheat and eat it.
But one thing I’ve noticed is that, it doesn’t happen with all rice types, it also depends on the quality or type of rice.
But the best thing is to not leave rice out for long time.
Laura says
So sorry to hear that you’ve gotten sick from re-heated rice left at room temperature. Hope it wasn’t serious and that you’ve learned that lesson without too much pain.
Heather says
So if cooking the rice doesn’t kill the spores, then why eat, let alone bother to cook rice at all?! It’s the same as Peanuts, unless you plunk them from the ground and eat them the same day, they too will get fungus spores all over them and that’s what causes the peanut allergen.
And, you know what… this country is full of misinformation. Maybe someone with a compromised immune system doesn’t get sick is due to the fact that they either bought and use a small bag of rice, or the factory did things that would prevent the fungus from growing, such as washed and dried it quickly.
Of course, believe it or not it also depends on how well the person’s gut is, the more good friendly gut bacteria a person has the less likely they are to get food poisoning. As well as the least likely of getting head colds and other illnesses. And, even if you reply, just know you’re wasting your time because I won’t be back to read your reply. ‘Cause if you’ve read as many books as I have, especially Paleo ones, you’d know different. Albeit, that’s not to say you’d probably believe it. As Ecoli happens in meat due to the fact that those who are cutting into the gut section went and cut too deep thus getting the cow’s feces into the meat… and not amount of washing off will neutralize the feces… as a few of these butchering companies don’t care to watch over their butchers to ensure they ain’t cutting too deep.
Heaven says
I have gotten sick from eating both plain minute rice and a beef flavored rice side even after refrigerating right away and eating it the next morning. I do however have digestive conditions that have been going on since I was 8 and I am now 25 (GERD, IBD, yeast overgrowth, and possible liver damage). Another thing to note is that i recently started having severe environmental allergies which I have never had before. I have only gotten food poisoning once from something other than rice which was one of those totinos frozen pizzas back in 2009. I do believe that Americans have a weaker immunity to food borne illnesses since we baby our immune systems so much but it may also have something to do with our environment.
Yvonne says
I remember hearing about this in a science or medical course. My take away was that cooked and UNCOVERED rice such as in restaurant kitchen, may end up with spores and this lead to illness.
Laura says
That seems to be the conventional scientific and medical wisdom. Thanks for stopping by Yvonne. Hope you’ll enjoy some of my recipes too.
Nikki says
I first heard of this during my first pregnancy a few years ago.. it was then I realised that I had experienced this when I was a teenager. Rice balls from a sushi place – it was the only thing I ate differently to anyone else and I was violently ill all night.
It was also just last year that I stupidly ate ONE teaspoon of rice that I’d left out on the bench for several hours.. as soon as I swallowed it I thought of how dumb the move was. 6 hours later I was violently ill and it lasted 24 hours and needed IV fluids.
Laura says
Nikki, I am so sorry that you had those terrible experiences. I myself have not gotten sick from rice as far as I can recall, but when I hear about someone who has been stricken, it reminds me that, while it won’t happen to everyone, when it does, it’s truly awful. Glad the effects were short-lived if unpleasant.
Feeling sick tonight! says
I’m writing this because I just read your blog. Thanks for writing it. Tonight I ate rice that I left out overnight in a covered pressure cooker. And now I’m sick. Been to the toilet 7 times in the last 3 hrs and feel horrible. I want to vomit, but I’m not sure that will help at this point. Now my face is extremely sore like I have a sinus infection. So, I appreciated reading your post. I’m sure this will pass but it serves as a good reminder that regardless of how cheap I feel like being, a bag of $4 rice is definitely not worth getting sick over. Even the more expensive, organic, non-GMO stuff that I get. I can only hope that the few drops of lime essential oil I cooked the rice in originally did something to keep the bacteria at bay enough for me to get over this asap! I’m in medical school and I have an exam in 36 hrs!
Laura says
Oh no!! So sorry that you’re sick. Hope that you’ll recover in time to do fabulously on your exam. Take it easy. I know that many people don’t get sick from unrefrigerated rice, but some do – and it’s no fun to be among that latter group.
Tak says
I’ve eaten rice left out for over a year and had no issues. There’s a larger portion of the world (Like BILLIONS of people) which would have noticed if this were not a very rare occurrence. Especially as it relates to leaving rice cooked in the morning out for the remainder of the day. Normal practice for the majority of the world’s population when you consider the world’s most populated nations eat rice daily for most of their meals. Can something happen? Sure. But based on statistics you’re MUCH MORE likely to get sick from eating any type of food out at a restaurant instead of at home when you look at how many people get sick from eating out which is not rare at all. Bottom line is if someone believes this is a problem then they should probably never eat outside of home. Ever.
Laura says
I don’t know how rare this type of sickness is (caused by eating rice left unrefrigerated), I can only tell you that glancing through the comments below shows that it does happen – and that it’s not a nice event when it does.
Tak says
Thanks Laura – Agreed if one were to get sick it would definitely leave them with a different perspective on this question. Suppose I should have said rare and not “very” rare (In my view). My larger point was that based on probabilities I’m certain you’re much more likely to get sick from simply eat out (any food) at a restaurant. Having managed several restaurants in multiple states when I was younger I’ve seen the poor and unsafe food handling first hand both by my employees and under circumstance of fellow management. Besides my own personal experience there are plenty of undercover documentaries and investigative reporting which show the dangers of restaurant food. I do “get” the “Why do anything to increase the chance of contamination” argument but at the same time for those that eat out on a regular basis it doesn’t make sense to me to worry about leaving plain cooked white rice on the counter. Appreciate this conversation and thread. Informative.
Laura says
Tak, We’re definitely on the same page when it comes to food handling in restaurants – it often leaves much to be desired. My blog is focused on home cooking, so I do what I can to let people know of the food safety concerns in their own kitchens. While I don’t know the statistics about the relative risks, I wouldn’t be surprised if your’e right and eating out poses more of a risk to most people than does home cooking. In any event, glad you stopped by and look forward to your thoughtful comments on any other subject I post about.
ar6317 says
The web site you quote says the following about B. cereus:
“with a minimum growth temperature of 4°C and a maximum of 48°C”.
This means that cooked rice, which during cooking is usually immersed in boiling water (at about 100 C) for at least 15 minutes, has no live B. cereus or ANY other enteric bacteria (i.e. those which cause digestive system illnesses).
Since you like to quote science, take a look at this flyer from the World Health Organization, which shows that NO pathogen lasts more than 10 minutes above 95 C
https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/Boiling_water_01_15.pdf
Therefore, cooked rice is sterilized, and if kept covered in the same pot in which it was cooked, it should stay so without refrigeration. This is probably the usual practice in cultures where cooked rice is not refrigerated, and it’s presumably served with clean utensils which don’t contaminate the leftover. Of course, serving food with unclean utensils will negate the benefits of boiling.
Since it’s unlikely that rice or other cooked foods can remain sterilized if left at room temperature because of exposure to external factors (not being properly covered, contact with other non-sterile kitchen utensils, etc.) refrigeration is the safe route. But this safe food handling practice is unrelated to B. cereus contamination, which is absent in properly cooked rice.
Laura says
Interesting – thanks for stopping by.
Biocat says
Just clarifying your comment ar6317. You quoted “growth temperature” not survival temperature. Without having done any research whatsoever, however I do have a science background, I would understand that to mean the min and max temps for growth of the bacteria, not for survival. Therefore from that bit of information, I don’t think you could say that it doesn’t “survive” outside of those temps. It just doesn’t grow outside of those temps???
Mike says
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most Americans don’t wash their rice before they cook it?
Laura says
I don’t think so. But interesting idea.
Chris Idenouye says
My whole life…now 68, My family and I have eaten rice left out in the rice cooker the next day unrefrigerated. On rare occasion eaten it on day 3. Never gotten sick.
We do wash it thoroughly prior to cooking and do use clean utensils when serving the next day.
Maybe just got lucky.
Having said that I will start to refrigerate it.
Laura says
Chris, I’m glad none of you have gotten sick. As I mentioned in my post, most people won’t get sick from unrefrigerated cooked rice. But those who do …. And you’re a smart guy to make the switch to refrigerating the rice. After all, better safe than sorry.
Brooke says
Ive had food poisoning twice from rice. The first time was from fried rice from a Chinese restaurant. The second time was from saffron rice that was left out overnight. There were about 5 or 6 of us vomiting for hours. I didn’t eat rice again for years after that! Wondering if freezing would have any effect on killing the bacteria?
Laura says
Brooke, Hmm – no idea about whether freezing affects the bacteria. Anyone have solid information on that?
Joe says
Seems like “nope, doesn’t kill bacteria…only makes them go dormant”.
http://www.fightbac.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Top-10_FreezingFood-Myth-Fact-2016.pdf
https://www.daymarksafety.com/news/does-freezing-food-kill-bacteria/
Also there is the issue that microorganisms make toxins that’ll likely still be in the food during the freeze/thaw. Like botulism in canned food. It’s a specific kind of bacteria (botchulinum?) that makes a toxin. Freezing just prevents them from going about their business (eating, pooping, etc)…delaying the results.
The point is to put it away fast so things can’t grow on it. Unfortunately with restaurant food you can’t know what might have infected your food (sick cook, or bad hygiene in the bathroom for some nice rotavirus, or whatever).
Joe says
Correlation is not causation. We’re pattern matching machines and we see connections where none might exist.
Without a stool or vomit culture proving the living organism type, or blood tests while ill…I’d question the single case of “proven” sickness after eating old rice. No worries if you don’t want to chance it, but please don’t claim your one friend is scientific proof. We give more credence to things that happen near/to us, for better or worse.
Also environment likely plays a huge role here, as does contamination after cooking (keeping a finished rice cooker covered between servings likely helps there).
A very early step in our digestion is a hydrochloric acid bath, both to break up protein and to kill incoming bad stuff. I’d assume people with low stomach acid (could take Betaine HCL to help), or who eat too much at once, might end up with a faulty result from it.
Also many people seem to have leaky guts, where things enter the bloodstream when they shouldn’t. I assume that would decrease the toxin levels needed to trigger a reaction.
It’s interesting that the people who are fine doing this likely don’t eat a typical western diet with things that seem to cause leaky gut (tons of wheat/gluten, A1 cow dairy, sugar/starch all the time to change the microbiota of our guts, low fiber, etc). It is entirely possible that western people are more sensitive to issues like this with our mangled immune systems (allergies, arthritis, IBS, etc…).
noman ahmad says
It’s awesome
Laura says
thanks
Ella says
Well I left out my 🍚 rice from the Thai restaurant last night. They have a sanitation score of 92 out of 100, which isn’t great so I think I’ll make new. My house was between 62 and 56 degrees overnight. It sat out for 14 hours but they keep it hot at the restaurant. I hate throwing away food, but I hate food poisoning even worse. And just some insight on food poisoning, I have twice gotten food poisoning off of the same food item that someone else also got food poisoning off of, and they often react the very same night, where is I get violently ill the next day. So the time that it takes for someone to get sick can vary. I don’t know why this is but all I can say is that we ate the exact same food and got sick at different times.
Laura says
Ella, So sorry to hear of your food poisoning experiences. Like you, I would throw out rice that had been left out overnight. Better safe than sorry.
Vivian says
My name is Vivian and I agree since it happened to me last night. My daughter doesn’t like to refrigerate her rice so it stays out on the stove overnight and I had 3 spoonfuls. Within 2 hrs IMY stomach was hurting really bad until I I had to go bathroom and get sick. Then and only then did the pain in m uhh stomach start to feel a little better.
Laura says
Vivian, So sorry that you learned this lesson from a bad experience. Many people do not get sick from eating rice left unrefrigerated, but those who do don’t make the same mistake again.
Craig says
Apparently, many people need to reread the article!
It says, “Uncooked rice can contain spores of bacillus cereus and those spores survive cooking.”
It says “CAN” contain, not will, or does. It’s up to you if you want to take the chance on whether your batch does or does not have it. Eventually, if you spin a roulette wheel enough times 0/00 will come up.
My wife is Asian and I have a pretty good idea why they don’t get sick from day-old rice! They rinse the heck out of it BEFORE cooking. At least 3 times until the water runs clear. Still, she will throw out rice left out all day or overnight.
Polly says
So no idea if you’ll see this post but I’ve made a bad mistake tonight. I forgot I bought Fried rice today from a shop. Did some errands came home had dinner snd 11 hours after getting the rice I found it still in its container and in a plastic shopping bag. So I ate It. Now I’m worried. No sign yet but omg Wish me luck. It was vegetable fried rice. I did Not see any egg
Laura says
Polly, Hope you didn’t get sick – many who eat rice that has been at room temperature do not get sick. I wrote the post because I didn’t realize that there was a chance for illness from room temperature rice.
Teresa Neal says
Look at all the naysayers in these comments refusing to believe the science, and repeating folk wisdom. No wonder so many people won’t wear masks or get COVID vaccines.
TL says
Hello! I found a research review article that may be relevant: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7913059/
Growing up in an Asian country, rice was also frequently left at room temperature or in the rice cooker (I brought leftover rice to school several times for lunch; still here) and it didn’t seem to be a big deal, and so yes, I was wondering why that’s the case. I searched online and also could not find stats related to outbreak incidences in Asia vs. Western countries.
From reading the article, food poisoning from leftover rice is likely not that common (which is why so many of us were not affected) and it does happen in Asian countries; China was mentioned in the article and I read about a case in Singapore somewhere else. Probably growing up, we related these food poisoning cases to poor sanitation instead of rice.
Anyway, here are my highlights from the article:
-Bacillus cereus can be found in almost all raw rice samples (and pasta too)
-Cooking does knock the number of spores down several-fold (except for the super heat resistant ones), and it takes a while to grow back to sufficient numbers to sicken someone; again, probably why it’s not that common, unless you leave rice at 30 C to incubate for 24 hours or longer.
-“…the presence of 0.1% acetic acid is sufficient to inhibit the growth of the microorganism” — that’s why sushi rice was invented?
-We can tolerate a certain level of bacterial consumption, so we eat the bacteria and move on with life: “In the past, studies carried out with human volunteers found a weak significance for symptoms when B. cereus cells were ingested.” Obviously, this does not hold for immunocompromised people.
Hope this is useful! I enjoyed the discussion in this comments section.
Laura says
Many thanks. this article is illuminating and not surprising. Glad you stopped by – hope to see you agaain soon.
Imran says
Leaving cooked rice unrefrigerated can be risky because it can quickly become a breeding ground for bacteria, particularly Bacillus cereus, which can produce harmful toxins. The general guideline is to not leave cooked rice at room temperature for more than two hours.
However, this time frame can vary depending on factors like the ambient temperature and humidity. In hot and humid conditions, bacteria multiply faster, so you should be especially cautious. If the temperature is above 90°F (32°C), it’s advisable to refrigerate cooked rice within one hour.
Susan McCracken says
Hmmm…my mom always left cooked rice and other cooked foods out all day…in fact she would make bentos which had rice, meats and vegetables in it and we kids would eat it at the beach after swimming all day. We did this quite frequently. She would LOL at this idea that she should have been refrigerating it or throwing it out. I also don’t have a fear of rice being left out. I guess our bodies can handle it and others can’t.
A says
JUST GIVE US THE SOURCES YOU USED!
Laura says
A, The sources are linked in the post.