After A Restaurant Gave This Woman Fried Rice Syndrome, She's Trying To Warn Others

Sep 03, 2018

Nothing tastes better than some delicious Chinese food with friends. Everyone loves eating fried rice, but it can apparently make you sick. It seems impossible to mess this dish up, but you can end up in the hospital if your dish is not prepared properly. 

One Texas woman found this out the hard way after dining at a restaurant near Dallas, Texas. Germaine Mobley merely wanted to enjoy a nice meal at the Asian King Buffet in Waxahachie. While the restaurant denies that it made her sick, Germaine knew that something was wrong as soon as she left the restaurant. As she began to drive away, she started to feel sick and develop breathing problems. 

The 62-year-old woman only became sicker and sicker. She ended up spending eight days in the intensive care unit. Now, she is warning everyone about the dangers of eating fried rice. 

Germaine has named the condition fried rice syndrome. This basically refers to the illnesses caused by bacteria in the food. Sometimes, fried rice is allowed to sit at room temperature for hours. When this happens, a bacteria called Bacillus cereus starts to grow in the dish. 

Unfortunately, fried rice is normally left at room temperature. Professional chefs want the rice to cool down to room temperature to keep the rice from clumping later on. They will cook a large batch of rice and let it cool for hours longer than it is supposed to. It turns out that the rice should never be allowed to cool for more than six hours. 

After such a terrible experience, Germaine Mobley hired an attorney. Her lawyer, Kathryn Knotts, told local news reporters that Germaine's experience should be a warning to everyone else. While the syndrome sounds like a joke, it can cause very real symptoms. 

No one wants to suffer from food poisoning. The best cure is preventing food poisoning from happening. Before you eat any food at a buffet, you need to know how long the food has been left out. Look for burners or heaters that keep the food from cooling off too much. As long as the food is kept warm enough, the bacteria cannot grow. If you are uncertain about how safe your buffet food is, ask the chef. 

When you are cooking at home, be careful about how long you allow cooked rice to cool off. You can use a flat surface to increase the surface area. This allows it to cool off faster, which prevents bacteria from growing. 

If you have suffered from food poisoning after going to a buffet, let us know about your experience. 

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation with your doctor. Your health is important to us!