There's nothing better than coming home from a long day of work and realizing that you don't have to make dinner.
Even for people who love cooking, remembering that you have leftovers can be a great source of relief — it means that instead of having to put time and effort into making a meal, you can just toss something in the microwave and have a balanced meal.
One of the best leftover foods? Chinese food. It's great cold or hot, and it still tastes pretty darn good after a night in the fridge.
When you reheat food, you probably go out of your way to make sure meats and veggies are cooked all the way through, but you might think it's okay if your leftover rice stays a little cold.
If you've eaten leftover rice without fully cooking it, you're not alone — a lot of us do it — but it could actually make you very sick.
[H/T Woman's Day]
If you eat leftover rice without fully reheating it, you probably think it's fine.
What you may not realize, though, is that leftover rice can actually make you very sick.
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) explains that it's actually not the way you reheat the rice that's the problem; it's the way you store it before recooking it.
If you don't store cooked rice properly, you can come down with a case of food poisoning.
The NHS explains:
Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning. The spores can survive when rice is cooked.
If rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores can grow into bacteria.
These bacteria will multiply and may produce toxins (poisons) that cause vomiting or diarrhea.
The longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that the bacteria or toxins could make the rice unsafe to eat.
To avoid getting sick, try only making the amount you need and eating it right away.
If you choose to store leftover rice, cool it as quickly as possible (within an hour is best), and be sure to eat it within a day of storing it.
When you reheat leftover rice, make sure it is hot all the way through.
If you still have leftover rice after eating it a second time, toss it — you shouldn't reheat rice more than once.
Did you know this scary information about leftover rice? I definitely didn't.
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