Cooking different meals every day can be quite challenging. For this reason, many people who cook their meals in bulk prefer to eat the leftover food by dividing it into different days and reheating it. Kim Lindsay, a dietitian in Australia, explained the risky foods you may want to avoid heating if you don’t want to get sick.
FOODS THAT MUST NEVER BE HEATED
1. RICE
Rice is a food we are often told not to reheat. But you may not know why you were warned against it. “Rice is a big risk. This food is heat-stable, so even when you heat them, they can cause harmful pathogens,” Kim told the Daily Mail. Uncooked grains may contain a bacteria called Bacillus cereus, which is not always killed during the cooking process. This can cause food poisoning. Bacillus cereus spores can grow in rice that has been kept at room temperature, according to the NHS. These multiply and can produce toxins that cause vomiting or diarrhea.
The NHS states that the longer you leave the rice at room temperature, the more likely it is to develop toxic substances. To avoid getting sick, you should refrigerate your rice as quickly as possible – ideally within an hour of cooking – and refrigerate it for no more than a day before eating it. If you choose to reheat, you must make sure that the steam is completely hot.
According to Kim, reheating potatoes can increase your risk of getting sick. Just like rice, the danger comes from storing starchy fiber at room temperature: storing it for more than two hours can lead to the growth of Clostridium botulinum.
The deadly toxins produced by this bacterium can cause a rare but life-threatening condition called botulism, which can attack the brain, nerves, and spinal cord and cause paralysis. The NHS said bacteria produce botulism that causes toxins when deprived of oxygen, so foodborne botulism is often caused by substances in sealed cans or bottles.
In the case of potatoes, Kim explained that Clostridium botulinum will come from the soil where they grow. Cooking potatoes in foil can increase the risk of botulism because the material cuts off oxygen and can encourage bacterial growth in the potato. Kim said mashing potatoes with perishable ingredients like milk, butter and cream can increase your risk of getting sick if you reheat them. Again, he advised not to keep the puree at room temperature for more than two hours and said that you should heat it until steam comes out.
3. Spinach
Failure to properly reheat greens like spinach can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that results in fever, flu-like symptoms, headaches, neck stiffness, confusion, and even seizures. The disease is caused by the bacteria listeria, which can linger in foodstuffs.
Ready-made salads and store-bought greens tend to carry listeria, according to Kim. The NHS added that dairy products made from unpasteurized milk, cheeses like camembert and brie, as well as sliced meats can put you at risk for listeriosis.
Fourth on Kim’s list of risk foods to reheat was eggs. Breakfast foods can carry salmonella bacteria, which can cause all sorts of unpleasant symptoms like diarrhea, stomachache, fever, and vomiting. Kim says eggs stored at temperatures between 40 and 165 degrees Fahrenheit (4C to 74C) are the ‘danger zone’.
“Pathogens can grow faster when they’re at this temperature. If a food has more pathogens and more harmful bacteria, then the risk of food poisoning increases when we eat it,” he said.