Death from eating starchy foods left out at room temperature is rare (and other health factors may have been at play in the case of the Belgian man who died), but it can happen. It’s more likely that eating improperly stored food will cause classic food poisoning symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea that should clear up within a few days.
This is why Aiken recommends putting your leftover rice and pasta — and all other foods — in the refrigerator or freezer as quickly as possible to avoid any potential issues.
“The rule you will hear me say a million times over … there’s this temperature danger zone between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit where you really shouldn’t leave your food in that range for more than two hours because that’s when the bacteria start to multiply,” Aiken said.
If something has been out for longer than two hours, you should consider throwing it away.
In this episode, we also chatted with her about whether or not ketchup and other condiments really need to go in the fridge, foods that will stay good indefinitely, and much more. Listen to it here.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/rajpunjabi/leftovers-food-safety-bacteria
