Rice can be more dangerous than its blandness would suggest. Being high starch, low acid, and moist, it is the perfect food for a wide variety of microorganisms, not all friendly.
Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I got violently ill on my first visit to Thailand. I couldn’t blame any one thing other than walking around eating street food with my hands in a new place and being dumb about it. But that seemed to acclimate my system for the rest of my stay in Asia, my guts just needed to get acquainted with some new microbes.
I’ve heard and read several times over the years that rice harbors some of the most virulent nasties in the foodborne illness world – the moisture, plus sugar and starch, makes it a very fertile environment for growing microorganisms of all kinds.
I’m not a scaredy-cat at all about how long stuff is in the fridge, but I’m pretty vigilant with rice.
(Peanut butter is nearly as bad as a bacterial breeding ground-- that’s one of the few nasties that I could narrow the ring of blame on, but happily, once I’d managed to remove it from my system, I felt better almost immediately)
I would think it would be very difficult for anything to grow in peanut butter, lacking water and oxygen as it does, and being shelf-stable. Are anaerobic bacteria the problem, or what am I missing? I do know there have been PB recalls, but I though that was due to outside contamination…
I don’t know the science of it but there was salmonella-tainted peanut butter that I got. It was a US brand that I could look up but won’t. We were in Rio, I was crazy sick but only later did I find the info about what should have been removed from the shelves.
I remember that, and I’m sorry you suffered but it was outside contamination, not mishandling of a potentially hazardous ingredient. It was the bird droppings and water allowing salmonella to survive, not the peanuts. But it did survive in unopened containers of the PB, which would contain a little air but no water so hmm, guess that’s my learning something for today
From CNN - “In the PCA outbreak, former company
employees described filthy conditions at the plant in southwest Georgia.
Federal inspectors found roaches, rats, mold, dirt, accumulated grease
and bird droppings during their raid. They also found a leaky roof. Salmonella
is often associated with meat, poultry, eggs and raw milk – products
from animals that are carriers of the bacteria. It also thrives in the
intestines of birds and can be found in fruits and vegetables and in
ingredients made from them.The
presence of water in what is supposed to be a dry processing facility
for peanuts is like adding gasoline to fire for salmonella, food safety
experts say.”
Yup. I ended up in a clinic in Mexico and I was put on an IV for rehydration. Blood and stool samples taken. The doctor put me on IV antibiotics there. This started about three days before I was returning home…
When I returned to Canada, I had to get more IV fluids and was put off work for a week because I was considered infectious- I work in healthcare…
Bacillus Cereus, a spore forming bacteria, like to hang out in rice. I learned all sorts of interesting tidbits after the experience in a bacteriology course as well as microbiology.
I have never been so wickedly sick. Some sort of neuro toxin was involved because for 8 hrs, , I couldn’t even move- my muscles were limp!
again though – the recent frozen veg recall isn’t about rotten food. food recalls and food poisoning outbreaks, like at chipotle, have been about contamination. the op’s friend has no idea what they are talking about!
If safety is the over-riding concern, I would think the generic chains might actually beat the local joints due to the more standardized menu, ingredients, etc. (I know problems still occur) Plus, given the value of these chains, they might be more nervous about arming a patron with ammo for an expensive lawsuit. I’ve gotten some tummy aches from meals, but thankfully nothing more so far knocks on wood
Oh I know, the definition of “rotten” food is sort of mind boggling when applied to restaurants in the US. Although I’m sure there’s something in that category that is termed exotic and highly desirable at the same time
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
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OK, let’s take steak. When does the aging of the beef tip over from developing flavour to becoming rotten?
Few restaurants, in any of the countries I know, make mention on their menu of how long the meat has been aged for. That makes me think it’s probably not very long - otherwise they would want to mention it as a feature. At home, I’d usually want to be buying meat that’s aged 28 and preferably 35 days, so I know the flavour has developed.
But, next month, I’m going to a place that makes a thing of the fact that they age the beef for 125 days. Yes, 125 days.
So, the big decision. Do I try it and pass up all the other really good sounding dishes? Or do I bottle out?
I can’t remember their names right this minute but there are people on this site who age meat that long. As I understand it it’s the flavor that changes enormously during that time.
The funny thing is, the person in the OP is a microbiologist, so in practice knows how nasties replicate. But she’s not much of a foodie, and used to have to hack apart dead (and probably maggot-y and rotten) animal heads to get brain samples to test for rabies in the lab, so I think there are some emotional or psychic scars around meat there that the rest of us can’t relate to. She’s moved to the STD department, so no more rabid dog brains, just syphyllis . I don’t know if there are bad restaurant experiences on top of the lab stuff, but I do give her a bit of a pass for having dealt with much grosser animal products than I.
Yes, there is a fine or maybe blurry line between fermented and rotten. Aged beef, stinky cheeses, aged salami, wine, vinegar, yogurt… I like Eppoisses which could be considered rotten, but not durian, which only smells like it is!
. I don’t know if there are bad restaurant experiences on top of the lab stuff, but I do give her a bit of a pass for having dealt with much grosser animal products than I.