Myths about pre-cooked rice....

[mumtosp]

Hi all,

DS has multiple allergies and is on a limited diet. Thanks to MN I've had loads of ideas on how to make his diet interesting. The one thing which he currently loves is a mixed veg pulao. However, he only eats this over the weekends when it is freshly made.
I would like to give him pulao during the week, but that would mean cooking it the night before. Would that be OK? I remember reading somewhere that pre cooked rice is a breeding ground for bacteria and should not be eaten... is that a fact or a myth?

TIA :)

Apparently it is a fact, but it has never bothered me and we often reheat rice in our house.

Having said the above, we don't have allergies in our house either (other than a little Hay Fever).

I always cook extra and reheat it.

It's the way rice is cooled down that is the key - cooled quickly straight away and stored at a consistently low temp in the fridge (means no bacteria given a chance to grow). Then it is ok to reheat the next day.

Once bacteria grows, it can't be killed by heating, no matter how hot.

it need to be cooled quickly and put in the fridge. Leaving it out at room temperature is the problem as bacteria in the rice can produce toxins that can cause food poisoning and these toxins are not destroyed by heating.

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning.aspx?CategoryID=51

It's not a myth. There may be a toxin produced and that doesn't get killed by heating, as it's not a living thing.

Shop bought pre-cooked rice has been heat treated to get rid of any possible botulism spores, though. You could pre-cook the veg, with any seasonings and then warm that through with some of that and it would still be quick and be a lot safer.

from NHS web site:

"Tips on serving rice safely

ideally, serve rice as soon as it has been cooked

if that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour)

keep rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating"

You need to cool rice QUICKLY if you are keeping it. You can serve it hot or cold afterwards - but be aware that you should not keep it long - and I would not serve it for a packed lunch where you have no idea of temperature variance. (and bacterial multiplication)

I cool rice quickly by running it under cold water, then bag into portions in sandwich bags and freeze. It then defrosts and heats up nicely in the microwave still in the bag

I learned about it at my food hygiene course, run by local environmental health inspectors. The bacteria in question form spores which can survive the cooking temperatures, then multiply once it cools to their desired temperature.

I have never heard of it actually happening to anyone. I expect it was a problem when it became fashionable to make rice salads for party buffets in the 1970s.

As above, cook, cool rapidly, refridgerate, then reheat to piping hot. No hanging about.

Once your rice is cooked, put aside the rice you want to keep and run it under cold water, then chill immediately in the fridge.

You may have to get creative in how to get the rice flavour to hold if you're cooking it in stock.

I'd happily cook and cool then reheat rice.
But if you're not sure, or cannot cool it quickly, would the precooked sachets of rice work for you? No idea what they're like wrt his allergies.

If this is fact, how come I've never heard of a single instance ever of someone contracting food poisoning from rice??

I've microwaved leftover Chinese takeaway rice/basmati and risotto that has been left on the counter overnight hundreds of times.

It simply wouldn't occur to me not to .

You only have to get food poisoning once to never want it again.

I think the thing is, people often blaim the accompaniment to the rice. So they've had a dodgy curry. Or dodgy chinese. When actually it's the rice.

I think it mainly is a 'thing' in sloppy takeaway establishments that might have a vat of rice on the counter for ages.

If you cool it rapidly and fridge it - it's fine.

Otherwise - why not experiment with rice cookers and slow cookers?

Q. I've heard that reheating rice can cause food poisoning. Is this true?
A. It's true that you could get food poisoning from eating reheated rice. But it's not actually the reheating that's the problem – it's the way the rice has been stored before reheating.

Uncooked rice can contain spores of bacteria that can cause food poisoning. When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will multiply and may produce poisons that cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Reheating the rice won't get rid of these poisons.

So, the longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that poisons produced could stop the rice being safe to eat.

It's best to serve rice when it has just been cooked. If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) and keep it in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating.

That was from the food standards agency

Hmm maybe Princess.

The only people I know who've had genuine food poisoning have got it from seafood or dodgy meat.

I had it once from scallops and honestly thought I was going to die .

Oh yeah, you can totally get food poisoning from rice.

Me and DH had food poisoning once. We think we got it from a ready meal (one of those bags of curry meals from supermarket). We think it was probably the rice, but who knows.

It's the only time I've ever had food poisoning, I think. DH was worse. He fainted and hit his head and I had to call 999.

I'm pretty sure it was food poisoning and not a bug, because DS ate something different and he was fine, you'd think he'd have caught a bug.

I'm still very wary about rice that's not freshly cooked.

I didn't know that heating rice thoroughly doesn't help, because it's toxins, not the actual bacteria. That's interesting to know.

Thanks all for your advice :)

It seems that as long as I cool it down quickly and don't keep it for more than a day I should be fine. We always cook rice in a pressure cooker and serve immediately.
So my plan would be to cook extra, cool it immediately, chuck it in the fridge overnight and next day give it to the childminder who would also keep it in the fridge till lunch time... I just need to make sure to tell the childminder to heat it extremely well...

:)

Reheating it properly is not the problem see above^
In your position I might use those little frozen bags of rice that can cooked in the microwave instead.

My brother did a nutrition degree - he never eats rice unless he has cooked it and would never ever re-heat it. He is a fairly laid back chap generally so I follow his lead.

I had the trots after a meal in a Chinese restaurant in Brive in France. DH and I ate exactly the same meal except for the fact that he had fried rice and I had boiled rice.

And the waitress stood behind the till picking her nose while we were eating.

The restaurant closed, and built another one on an industrial estate, but without waitresses, just an all you can eat buffet.