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.

I'm quite relaxed about reheating food, sell by dates etc but I never ever reheat rice. I eat leftover curry and rice cold from the fridge and sometimes I think I prefer it that way!

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 can contain Bacillus Cereus which is a toxin-producing bacteria that is one of the most common causes of food poisoning, also called "fried rice syndrome". The toxin is highly resistant to heat and acids. Food poisoning is caused by not cooling the rice quickly. Once the toxins have developed reheating until it is piping hot won’t kill the toxins.

I have had bacillus cereus poisoning and it was within a few hours of eating rice at a Chinese buffet. I felt really ill for about 12 hours then was fine. Whenever we get a takeaway any rice that hasn’t been eaten gets thrown away.

I have just seen Weedsnseeds1 explanation, but I still think it is worth repeating.

Rice is one of the worst things for food poisoning. It put a colleague of mine in hospital for a fortnight when she reheated some.

Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

I can't believe I'm sitting here reading this, while eating cold leftover kedgeree at my desk at work! I've never had rice food poisoning so far, but I'm convinced I'll get it today now...

It's a bit like Russian Roulette @NeedToKnow101. Not all rice has bacillus cereus, but having been poisoned once, it isn't a risk I am prepared to take again.