Seriously now - how good are you really with food hygiene? Do you know how to store raw or cooked food?
I only ask these questions because of the news stories which I have read this week. They read that a student has sadly passed away in his sleep after consuming some pasta which was 5 days old! But, this wasn't a real story. No one had actually died. This was, in fact, based on a Youtube Video (Link) made by Dr Bernard's channel: Chubbyemu. Even though this story is not real. It is still important and a story that I really wanted to cover on my blog because;
...
I only ask these questions because of the news stories which I have read this week. They read that a student has sadly passed away in his sleep after consuming some pasta which was 5 days old! But, this wasn't a real story. No one had actually died. This was, in fact, based on a Youtube Video (Link) made by Dr Bernard's channel: Chubbyemu. Even though this story is not real. It is still important and a story that I really wanted to cover on my blog because;
- I was a University student who did/had to cook for myself in halls... I probably made some of the same risky mistakes and never realised
- I don't want anyone real to lose their lives over a stupid hygiene mistake.
- I believe that education/precaution is better then someone else having to pass away this way
Being able to cook for yourself, especially when you go away to university (Or college, like the video), is a good skill. Cooking can help you save money on food whilst at university. Plus, cooking can also be a very good life skill in general. But, I would also recommend that you learn how/the basics of keeping food - Raw or Cooked. It is a very important skill. You will defiantly need to know this for when you accidentally... Or on purpose... Cook too much.
I feel that this is a very important lesson nowadays seen as meal prepping or the term 'cooking for the week' is becoming very popular due to Instagram and the increased interest with a fitness lifestyle. But, there are some real dangers and risks with improperly storing food.
I feel that this is a very important lesson nowadays seen as meal prepping or the term 'cooking for the week' is becoming very popular due to Instagram and the increased interest with a fitness lifestyle. But, there are some real dangers and risks with improperly storing food.
The story that I with base this off... Or if I was writing scientifically the case study... Is Dr Bernard's (Username: Chubbyemu) Youtube video of the unfortunate fictional student's story - 'AJ'. AJ wanted to save money and time so he bought some pasta. Pasta is reasonably cheap for any student and something that I stocked up on during my university time. But, unlike how I cooked it mostly every time I wanted a pasta meal. The fictional student cooks it all at once and... No harm is really done at this point.
Then AJ leaves the leftover pasta out. This is normal for him to do. He usually remembers though. It was just placed on the side. Though this time the pasta had sat there for 2 whole days. After those 2 days, AJ's friends finally place the leftover pasta into the fridge. They had no idea that it had been out that long. The pasta stays in the fridge for three more days... Until AJ finally eats it!
Then AJ leaves the leftover pasta out. This is normal for him to do. He usually remembers though. It was just placed on the side. Though this time the pasta had sat there for 2 whole days. After those 2 days, AJ's friends finally place the leftover pasta into the fridge. They had no idea that it had been out that long. The pasta stays in the fridge for three more days... Until AJ finally eats it!
30 minutes after eating, AJ experiences horrible stomach pains. AJ becomes unwell, vomiting severely and also suffering from diarrhoea. But miraculously AJ believes everything is fine - He's just got a small case food poisoning. AJ just drinks some stomach medicine before he sleeps it off.
Somewhere in the middle of the night, AJ is woken up by the need to go to the bathroom. His friends find him there past out. His skin had turned a yellow colour - a sign of Jaundice which his friends don't know. But still, their friend is unwell. So they called for emergency services.
Somewhere in the middle of the night, AJ is woken up by the need to go to the bathroom. His friends find him there past out. His skin had turned a yellow colour - a sign of Jaundice which his friends don't know. But still, their friend is unwell. So they called for emergency services.
By the morning, AJ had passed away in the morning due to acute liver failure.
What also makes this infection worse for AJ, is that his old pasta had high levels of cereulide. Cereulide is a toxin made by this very bacterium. It is a very potent (Powerful) toxin which destroys mitochondria. This bacterium uses this toxin to collect potassium - which can have severe impacts upon humans.
But, it was not just the toxin which was the only cause of the problem. Bacillus cereus is a spore-forming bacterium. It probably would have infected the pasta as a spore form and then grown considerably due to the fact that the pasta was kept outside of the fridge. Once a bacterial colony had grown - heat would not have removed any bacteria or any products like Cereulide which is developed.
I mentioned in the story a medical condition known as Jaundice. This is where bilirubin, a product of breaking down red blood cells in the Liver, has built up within the body. It can indicate to a medical profession that the liver is damaged. Well... AJ also took a 'stomach medicine' before he went to bed. It turned out that the brand which he had consumed contained aspirin. Aspirin can stop the Liver from processing the fatty acids... This doesn't help matters when you realise that Cereulide, the toxin, also stops the metabolisis of fatty acids and sugars. So the fatty acids were already building up inside the Liver - This was without the aspirin's help. The combination of the cereulide with aspirin was a deadly combination.
Yes, this is the worse that I have even seen a case study about bacillus cereus going. This is a very serious case. No normal food poisoning ends in death. Though, this case study does provide some warnings for the preparation of food - especially rice and pasta dishes. It is used as a warning to highlight the problems with not refrigerating food.
Never leave food out - Especially not for 48 hours!
Links
If you want to watch the youtube video - Click here
But what happened to AJ?
A post-mortem revealed that AJ had eaten a large amount of the bacterium - Bacillus cereus. You would have probably heard of this micro-organism which is commonly the cause of food poisoning for old/unrefrigerated rice. But, it's not just rice that Bacillus cereus affects.What also makes this infection worse for AJ, is that his old pasta had high levels of cereulide. Cereulide is a toxin made by this very bacterium. It is a very potent (Powerful) toxin which destroys mitochondria. This bacterium uses this toxin to collect potassium - which can have severe impacts upon humans.
But, it was not just the toxin which was the only cause of the problem. Bacillus cereus is a spore-forming bacterium. It probably would have infected the pasta as a spore form and then grown considerably due to the fact that the pasta was kept outside of the fridge. Once a bacterial colony had grown - heat would not have removed any bacteria or any products like Cereulide which is developed.
I mentioned in the story a medical condition known as Jaundice. This is where bilirubin, a product of breaking down red blood cells in the Liver, has built up within the body. It can indicate to a medical profession that the liver is damaged. Well... AJ also took a 'stomach medicine' before he went to bed. It turned out that the brand which he had consumed contained aspirin. Aspirin can stop the Liver from processing the fatty acids... This doesn't help matters when you realise that Cereulide, the toxin, also stops the metabolisis of fatty acids and sugars. So the fatty acids were already building up inside the Liver - This was without the aspirin's help. The combination of the cereulide with aspirin was a deadly combination.
...
Yes, this is the worse that I have even seen a case study about bacillus cereus going. This is a very serious case. No normal food poisoning ends in death. Though, this case study does provide some warnings for the preparation of food - especially rice and pasta dishes. It is used as a warning to highlight the problems with not refrigerating food.
Never leave food out - Especially not for 48 hours!
Links
If you want to watch the youtube video - Click here
Comments
Post a Comment