5天前的意大利面或米饭会害死你

吃5天前的意大利面或米饭会害死你

If meat is left out on the counter for too long, we all know we need to throw it out. But what about rice or pasta?

如果肉在柜台上放太久，我们都知道我们需要扔掉它。但是米饭和意大利面呢?

Although that carby goodness might seem harmless after sitting on the bench for a bit, you'll probably think twice about it once you hear about the bacterium Bacillus cereus.

尽管坐在长凳上一段时间后，这种碳水化合物的好处似乎是无害的，但一旦你听说蜡样芽胞杆菌，你可能会三思而后行。

It's not a particularly rare germ. B. cereus will happily live wherever it can – soil, food, or in the gut.

它不是一种特别罕见的细菌。蜡样芽胞杆菌将快乐地生活在任何可能的地方-土壤、食物或内脏。

Some strains of this bacterium are helpful for probiotics, but others can give you a nasty bout of food poisoning if given the ability to grow and proliferate - such as when you store food in the wrong conditions.

这种细菌的一些菌株对益生菌有帮助，但如果赋予它们生长和增殖的能力，比如当你在错误的条件下储存食物时，其他菌株会让你严重食物中毒。

The worst scenarios can even bring death.

最糟糕的情况甚至会导致死亡。

In 2005, one such case was recorded in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology - five children in one family got sick from eating four-day-old pasta salad.

2005年，《临床微生物学杂志》(Journal of Clinical Microbiology)上记录了一个这样的病例——一个家庭中有五个孩子因为吃了四天之久的意大利面沙拉而生病。

According to the case study, pasta salad was prepared on a Friday, taken to a picnic on Saturday. After coming back from the picnic it was stored in the fridge until Monday evening, when the kids were fed it for dinner.

根据案例研究，意大利面沙拉是在周五准备的，周六带去野餐。野餐回来后，一直放在冰箱里，直到星期一晚上，处在在孩子们吃晚饭的时候。

That night the children began vomiting, and were taken to hospital. Tragically, the youngest child died; another suffered from liver failure but survived, and the others had less severe food poisoning and could be treated with fluids.

那天晚上孩子们开始呕吐，被送进了医院。不幸的是，最小的孩子死了;另一个患上肝衰竭却活了下来，其他孩子食物中毒不严重，可以用液体治疗。

But how can it cause such severe food poisoning, and is there anything we can do?

但是它是如何引起如此严重的食物中毒的呢?我们能做些什么呢?

"It is important for people to wash their hands properly and prepare food according to safety guidelines," says Mathur.

马图尔说：“对人们来说，正确洗手和按照安全指南准备食物是很重要的。”

"Further, heating left-over food properly will destroy most bacteria and their toxins."

此外，适当加热食物会破坏大部分细菌和毒素。