/kitchen/ - tasty morsels & delights

Rice
At least according to my countries food safety org, rice often have high levels of arsenic (brown rice is worse than white). They say it contains 10x the levels of arsenic compared to other grains, though they don't specify which kind of rice that is in comparison to, or if it's the average. It's recommended to not have it as your primary carb source. Boiling it like pasta (lots of water that you pour off rather than boiling dry) can reduce it quite a bit.

Cooked rice leftovers should be put in the fridge as soon as it has cooled enough, as the toxic stuff that can be created in it if left out is not destroyed by heating the leftovers later. Might not be very likely to occur, but it's still a gamble to disregard.

Champignon, button mushrooms, crimini, portabellos (they're all the same mushroom)
These should be eaten properly cooked. Contains a substance that's bad for you in the long run, which is partially destroyed when cooked.

>>1253
Arsenic content in rice depends on 2 factors:
1. Soil. Rice grown in soils with higher arsenic content accumulates more rice in the grains. Depending on your country, there may be maps available showing arsenic concentrations in soil.
2. Degree of processing. Arsenic is more concentrated in the bran (brown exterior layer) than the endosperm (white center). So white rice (which is really just brown rice with the bran removed) tends to be lower in arsenic. But white rice is also lower in vitamins for the same reason (vitamins are also more concentrated in the bran), so it's a tradeoff.

Sickness from reheated rice is usually from Bacillus sp. toxins. Bacillus sp. forms spores that are highly resistant to heat and may survive boiling/desiccation. Uncooked rice often has some inactive spores in it that get activated by the cooking. It's not usually a problem in freshly cooked rice or rice that is refrigerated soon after cooking, but if you leave cooked rice at lukewarm or room temperature for hours, the spores can grow into bacteria which then start multiplying on the cooked rice and produce toxins.

Simply killing mold is not enough to make moldy food safe. Freezing or cooking the mold will usually kill it, but it doesn't break down the mycotoxins produced by the mold's growth, which is what makes you sick. Some mycotoxins can even been boosted by high heat. You can cut the moldy section off of most hard foods, as long as you cut at least 2cm off from the nearest visible patch. However, soft foods like bread can spread mold very quickly in a way that is hard to see. So you should just throw the whole thing away.