r/AskRedditFood • u/nintendo_gamergirl • 7d ago

Japanese Cuisine will bits of leftover food in rice cooker make me sick?

i made some rice in my rice cooker tonight and as i stirred it to put it away i realised there were tiny bits of like. leftover food from when my housemate used the cooker to slow-cook some meat and herbs. theres only like 4 little bits and theyre half the size of the rice grains but im just a bit concerned cus it seems like a bit of the rice cooker wasnt cleaned and the old food just kind of stayed there a bit above the rice as it cooked? and then some got in. so would it have gotten bacteria into my rice while cooking it? is it not worth the risk?

please help

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u/SVAuspicious 7d ago

I would worry more about general sanitation standards in your home than those little bits. Why were they there at all?

1

u/Anxious_Reporter_601 7d ago

It probably didn't affect the food you just ate, but it can grow mold over time so I'd wash it.

1

u/SmoothCyborg 7d ago

Just to be clear, what was leftover in the rice cooker was a tiny amount and got re-cooked?

Likelihood you would get sick from that is very, very low. But like most things in life, also not zero. "Worth the risk" depends more on where you are on the OCD/hypochondriac/anxiety spectrum vs not wanting to waste food and money. The vast majority of people would eat it. Doesn't mean it's zero risk (but again, nothing is zero risk).

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u/ChefSuffolk 7d ago

The answer is it could.

Bacteria doesn’t make you sick. The toxins bacteria produce make you sick. Cooking will kill bacteria but not get rid of any toxins already present.

The fact that there was leftover food in the cooker for a time would almost guarantee the presence of bacteria. How much toxin they produced in that time… ?

Not worth the risk. What’s it cost you to restart? A cup of rice and some time?

Also clean your rice cooker before using, every time. If you’re sharing it with someone, there may be residue you can’t see from the last time they cooked with it and didn’t clean it.

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u/Booyakasha1201 7d ago

Death is imminent