Bush Hygiene

[stuart f]

The rice situ is this,when you,ve cooked the rice and don,t intend to eat it right away, don,t just leave it to one side to cool down by its self. What to do is drain the rice in a colander then run it under the cold tap until the rice cold,let it drain then put it in the fridge so it remains cold,then just reheat it when you need it.

the problem of food poisoning comes about when the rice has been allowed to stand at room tempreture and not cooled down properly after cooking this allows bacteria to grow.

i read a story once about a woman who gave some of her friends food poisoning because she cooked the rice the night before their intended meal,what she did was cooked the rice then drained it and left it to cool at room temp but did,t make sure it was cold all the way through. The rice on the top felt cold but if she had put her hand through the rice she would have felt it still warm at the centre, thus leaving it overnight still warm allowed bacteria to grow,result some very sick friends.

Hope this helps clear the situ.
CHEERS
STUART F.

 

[Doc]

Stuart is right - it is the slow cooling of rice at room temperature that is the problem:

Bacillus cereus intoxication is typically associated with the consumption of fried rice the 'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome'. Spores survive the initial boiling of rice that is then allowed to cool in bulk. During the slow cooling, spores germinate and vegetative bacteria multiply, then sporulate again. Sporulation is also associated with toxin production. Any uncooked boiled rice used to be kept for production of fried rice on the second day. If the batch was contaminated with Bacillus cereus, overnight storage in a refrigerator is sufficient to allow toxin production. The toxin is heat-stable, and can easily withstand the brief high temperatures used to cook fried rice. Within 16 hours of eating contaminated fried rice, patients suffer a bout of vomiting that generally lasts for less than a day.

Just speaking generally, any raw meat can be contaminated with bowel type bacteria such as salmonella. The risk is higher with poulty- lots of people eat rare sirloin (sometimes so rare a good vet could resuscitate it....) but you wouldn't eat rare chicken breast, would you?

Alcohol gels are very useful to decontaminate hands which have been rinsed of visible contamination. We have dispensers full of them around the hospital.

 

[Adi007]

(sometimes so rare a good vet could resuscitate it....)

:rolmao:

Alcohol gels are very useful to decontaminate hands which have been rinsed of visible contamination. We have dispensers full of them around the hospital.

Any sugestions for a good one? I look at the little bottles I see in outdoor shops and think that it's probably watered down (and dearer) version of something better.

Thanks for the great post again Doc!

 

[Gary]

Careex hand wash is anti bactiral and can be used as a standard soap too.

Personaly I carry anti bac pump spray as sold in the supermarket - you can clean all your gear with this even your hands.

If a smaller pump spray is wanted for short trips I pour said spray into an old (washed out) mosi repellent spray bottle which works well.

Another point to remember is never return a contaminated knife back to its sheath - clean it first. And if your knife has a leather handle make sure you clean that thoroughly too.

 

[JakeR]

Personaly I carry anti bac pump spray as sold in the supermarket - you can clean all your gear with this even your hands.

Ironically, its that kind of spray that can make you ill...indirectly.
If you live in a sterile invironment and are then exposed to bacteria, your immune system is unable to act upon it, thus making you ill. It is also afefecting the community as bacteria can become resistant.

:shock:

Thats is also why the problem of GPs over-prescribing anti-biotics is also allowing the bacteria to become resistant.


Cheers,

Jake

 

[C_Claycomb]

Please quit this discussion!! You are all making me quite scared! I have been cooking rice, eating half and leaving the rest in the saucepan to cool over night, then sticking it in the fridge next morning. Re-warm in the microwave for dinner the next day :shock: :yikes: Sometimes the rice even lasts for three meals like this!

I didn't know I was dicing with toxic bacteria every time!!!! I mean, I must have gotten away with this 2-4 times a month for the last 5 years, at least!!!! All my Chinese friends do something similar, or have done in the past. No one has ever had a problem. Just proves what dumb luck can achieve.

As an aside, with respect to exposure vs being clean. An old family friend of my mum lives in a cottage in the Welsh mountains. She raised her son in what many would think of as semi-derelict buildings that border on third world conditions. Her son went bare foot most of the time, right up into his teens. Years ago we were out on a walk on the tow path when he cut his toe on a flint. His mum promptly cleaned the wound by the expedient method of sloshing it in the canal. We carried on with the walk, the dust of the path forming a scab with the blood and canal water. Don't think that guy ever had any bad effects from the treatment. Talk about tough immune systems!! :shock:

 

[JakeR]

Ive been doing the same as you, never has a problem, perhaps i'll be more careful from now on.
I used to be quite paranoid about food poisoning when i was younger, used to stop me from eating out for a year.

How dangerous is it really, because i have eaten "dodgy" rice countless times and never had a problem.

 

[Kath]

Surely the effect of the bacteria will be worse if you've never been exposed to it before. So perhaps you've built up some kind of immunity over the years...

(This all fits in nicely with my housekeeping policy - don't keep it too clean and sterile or you won't build up any natural resistance! Probably total tosh, but it works for me! :twisted

 

[JakeR]

(This all fits in nicely with my housekeeping policy - don't keep it too clean and sterile or you won't build up any natural resistance! Probably total tosh, but it works for me! )

Your actually not far off the mark there Kath...my dad and a gp where once going to write a book on the correlation between sterile environments and sickness. Dettol is actually having a profound negetive effect on public health. Its different in hospitals, everything needs to be sterile there!

Cheers,

Jake

 

[EdS]

as the odd saying goes:

"you eat a peck of dirt between the cradle and the grave"

 

[EdS]

as the old saying goes:

"you'll eat a peck of dirt between the cradle and the grave"

Though now this doesn't really count.

I work in Waste Water (sewage) treatment related job and one of the things I really suffer from is stomach upsets - except from large amounts tequilla for some reason.

 

[JakeR]

Do you suffer stomach upsets if its unrelated to tequila? Its not what i think is it :shock: :-D

I suppose that is one extreme (only joking )

Cheers,

Jake

 

[C_Claycomb]

Really suffer, or rarely suffer :-?

There was an interesting program on TV a while ago that mentioned a study done in Germany, or Austria, looking at the allergies of children in an area. Particularly looking at asthma. The researchers got quite a surprise when they found that the lowest incedence was in children who worked on farms, clearing out stables and breathing in all that straw dust!

Their conclusion was that allergies are the result of the immune system getting bored and turning on the body. Give the system something to keep it busy and it never developes self destructive sensitivities.

That's the theory anyway. Think it probably only works out if you start really early.

Kath, I like your housekeeping ideas

 

[Roving Rich]

IIRC the problem with rice is in the reheating. There is a SERIOSLY nasty bug, along the lines of Ergot i think, that grows in the rice. If you heat it to anove 60 degrees for 5 minutes (ie boil it!) then it kills it off and becomes harmless. If you don't reheat it enough you encourage its growth and can poison yourself.
I go for the cold rice with last nights curry
Cheers
Rich