Does rice cause food poisoning?

[Sarah93advice]

Hi everyone. I’m a little baffled this evening!

I’m 21 weeks pregnant with DS2.

Last night DH and I ordered an Indian takeaway. I had a prawn vindaloo but didn’t manage to finish it all. I popped it into the fridge and didn’t think much more of it.

Today around 1pm I decided I’d eat it again after microwaving it. I’ve done this countless times with food.

I went for a nap after with DS1 and woke up at 5.30pm feeling super sick and with a churning stomach. I vomited not long after. I then vomiting again about 20 minutes later. DH made me some toast, you guessed it - I vomited it back up. I’ve now been sick 4 times since 5.30pm but it seems to be slowing. No Diarrhea but I feel pretty bad - my stomach is churning and I just want to stay in bed. I don’t seem to have a temp however have had mild chills which I just put down to it being cold in our bedroom.

I’ve since learned it’s possible to get food poisoning from rice. My DH however swears it was from the reheated prawns in the curry.

I’m planning to call my midwife tomorrow morning or the emergency maternity triage at the hospital if I start vomiting again tonight.

Any advice? I’ve never had food poisoning before and can’t even be sure if thats what this is. DH and DS1 are fine however did not eat what I had.

Yes you can get food poisoning from rice and apparently it is pretty horrible. My dad who eats under cooked things never bothers with sell by dates etc will never reheat rice after he once got food poisoning from it.

Yes it can be from rice, especially if its veg sitting around warm for ages like a takeaway would. Prawns are often blamed, but rice is more likely.

The thing is if you reheat prawns well you'll kill any bacteria that was in then, but the kind of bacteria that grows in rice is heat resistant.

I do this all the time and don't think anything of it so I think you've been unlucky :(

Yes - it's one of the things which you don't really expect to but can be quite bad - I've put the link from the NHS website below. Hope you feel better soon.

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning/

If it's BEEN, not veg

Both reheated seafood and rice could cause food poisoning if not reheated to a high temperature.

Food poisoning sucks but once your stomachs empty it should stop.
Rest and keep hydrated.

Does it matter whether it was the rice or prawns? You're ill from something you've eaten, that's all you really need to know.
Hope you feel better soon.

Reacting to food poisoning within a few hours is pretty rare. More likely, if it is food poisoning rather than a bug, it was there when you first had the takeaway. Yes, as a pp has stated, cooked rice can be a source of food poisoning.

Yes, rice is notorious for it. You have to make sure rice is cooled down rapidly if you are going to reheat it, and then reheated to piping hot.

I also learnt this the hard way

Rice is notorious for food poisoning.

Fried rice is the go-to for leftover rice for a reason - it's cooked in hot oil on a high heat. Rice that's just been warmed up again is best avoided.

Rice is famous for causing food poisoning at weddings in India as it's sitting around at ambient temperatures for too long.

Rice really shouldn't be reheated and eaten later. I know you can buy ready rice and microwave it, but I suspect it must be treated somehow to make it safe.
Someone has already said it - heat does not kill the bug which can live on rice.
Personally I wouldn't eat reheated prawn curry either.

Rice from takeaways is the most common source of food poisoning because the rice is held at a lukewarm temperature for hours on end. It's the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

@CountFosco most decent takeaways are well aware of the dangers of rice and do nothing if the sort. They are usually very careful. It's the reheating after that's generally the problem.

Buffet restaurants area different thing and I would avoid eating rice there (although they do still try to be careful and monitor the rice carefully)

Was it reheated till piping hot? There is no way of knowing if it was the prawns, rice or indeed something you'd eaten earlier in the day. Its not always the last meal you've eaten to cause food poisoning, and can even take a few days to take effect.

Never take anti-diarrhoea meds, so you can let it clear out (if you do end up getting diarrhoea that is). Avoid spicy, oily food and dairy- except for kefir and yoghurt which can help replace the good bacteria. Also, try sipping water, rather gulping it down. Also, do consider covid, which can present as a gastic illness.

I'm sure it will clear soon and you will be on the mend x

I had a vomiting bug while pregnant. They actually admitted me as I couldn’t stop vomiting all day. They put me on a drip to hydrate me and I went home next day. Hope you feel better soon

@wowfudge

Reacting to food poisoning within a few hours is pretty rare. More likely, if it is food poisoning rather than a bug, it was there when you first had the takeaway. Yes, as a pp has stated, cooked rice can be a source of food poisoning.

The onset of most is over 4 hours, although more commonly 12 hours, but rice causes spore bacteria which can affect you in as little as 30 minutes. www.livescience.com/amp/65374-bacillus-cereus-fried-rice-syndrome.html

RIce can as can prawns especially if reheated. Food posoining from either can be nasty particualrly if pregnant so I would get checked out or at least take advice and stick to plain stuff as soon as you are able to keep anything down

Rice ! It might well be , rice collects bacteria like nothing else
I had this once
And the prawns might not have helped
Take it easy , eat lots of plain food

I had reheated rice at lunchtime once at work
Was in the toilet 3 on onwards
It works fast

Food poisoning from rice is hideous.

Hope you’re feeling ok OP. I remember watching with silent horror as a colleague ate some rice she’d cooked the night before and left sitting on her worktop overnight. I didn’t know her that well but I did at one point say ‘I’m not sure that it’s a good idea to eat that, if you’ve left it out’ and she was like ‘oh really? I always do!’ and ate it anyway! She was fine. Some people seem to have iron stomachs

Yes rice is one of the worst and easiest things to get food poisoning from! It's a type of fungal spore that doesn't get killed through heat but simply multiplies. Of course there are ways to reheat it safely (I think needs to be cooled quickly after cooking), however I would never take the risk.

I come from a culture where rice is a staple part of the diet. I recall my mum getting the worst food poisoning ever when I was around 6 and my parents have literally never kept nor reheated rice ever again.

The bacteria associated with rice is Bacillus Cereus. If rice is cooked properly and cooled rapidly, there shouldn't be a problem, however, the bacteria is a spore former. It is heat resistant and emits a toxin when replicating at tepid temperatures. The toxin is heat resistant, so doesn't matter how well you then reheat, the toxin remains, tgat is what makes you ill.
Something like Salmonella is destroyed by heat and its the bacteria itself that makes you ill, so thorough reheating aviods illness.

It's not necessarily the behaviour of the restaurant that is at fault, but if OP is anything like me, the carton of takeaway rice sits on the side for hours because I want to help myself to more and don't end up putting it in the fridge until later when I go to bed. I also don't like the idea of putting it in the fridge still hot, so I leave it to cool down to room temperature first, which you're really not supposed to do. And I know in theory modern fridges can cope with hot food but it just feels wrong!

@Weedsnseeds1

The bacteria associated with rice is Bacillus Cereus. If rice is cooked properly and cooled rapidly, there shouldn't be a problem, however, the bacteria is a spore former. It is heat resistant and emits a toxin when replicating at tepid temperatures. The toxin is heat resistant, so doesn't matter how well you then reheat, the toxin remains, tgat is what makes you ill. Something like Salmonella is destroyed by heat and its the bacteria itself that makes you ill, so thorough reheating aviods illness.

Love this proper reply !