Dangers of heating "bahaw"

CEBU, Philippines - Do you often heat “bahaw” or leftover rice from breakfast for your lunch? Then when the bahaw isn’t consumed yet, do you reheat it  for supper? When after a party, do you often store leftover spaghetti or lasagna for two, three or four days? Do you store leftover lechon manok in exposed containers? When you couldn’t finish a bag of chips, do you seal it and leave it in the ref for three days and then consume it like it was resurrected? Do you bring leftover chicken salad to the office for lunch even when it is no longer chilled?

Thank you for your honesty, you have made yourself a potential victim of food poisoning. Most of us poison ourselves with leftover food because we think it is waste to throw it away while millions die in hunger. Forget the conscience-pricking warning. How much would you waste if you get sick with food poisoning or get debilitated with food poisoning? Hey there, the risks aren’t worth it.

By definition, leftover foods are cooked foods that you do not eat within two hours after these are cooked. Leftovers include food that you may eat before or after these are stored in the ref or freezer. Whether you eat chilled leftover food or reheat these, it leaves only one thing — the longer leftover food is stored or reheated, the greater the bacteria multiplies. Put it another way, the better it is for the bacteria to eat you as you eat the bacteria. If bacteria doesn’t scare you, storing food in plastic containers increases the risk of chemicals in the plastic to leach into food, causing greater contamination.

Worms and Wroth.

How do we get into the habit of having leftovers in the first place? The verse , “Give us this day our daily bread” is a favourite for those who pray the “Our Father” by rote. When God wants to give us our meals it is always on a daily basis. He specifically wants this given daily so there is no leftover. Being the Creator of all things, God already knows that leftover food is poisonous.

In the Old Testament specifically in Exodus 16 where the children of Israel made their exodus from Egypt, God provided them with bread by day and flesh or quails by night. But then they were specifically instructed to take only what was enough for them for the day and to trust the Lord to supply them the following day. In Exodus 16 verse 18, it was told that “he that gathered little had no lack: they gathered every man according to his eating.” Through Moses, God directed them to “let no man leave of it till the morning.”

In verse 20 it is told that those who insisted on keeping something the following day found their food with “worms and stank.” Hence as far back as the Old Testament, it was revealed that leftover food is at risk of “worms.”

So you tell me that in the 21st century there is such an appliance called refrigerator and freezers. Fine. That has given man much reason to justify and satisfy his avarice. Leftover food is probably a psychological and subliminal problem than it is a food issue. People tend to have leftovers because they prepare more for what they really cannot consume. Because we fear running out of food, there is so much left to waste. The dangers of leftover food may not be on what is wasted, not on the bacteria that prance on the food. But like the bacteria that is an unseen danger, leftovers come with the unseen danger of glutton and greed. As a general rule, leftover food must not be kept or eaten after four days.

Five Ways To Poison.

There are at least five ways on how leftovers can become imminent dangers: one is in the handling, two in the heating or cooking, three in chilling, four in storage and five in reheating. Except if you cook food at home, safety in food handling is no respecter of whether you eat in an expensive restaurant or at the canteen around the corner. The risks are greater with caterers. Oh c’mon tell me, are you positively sure that your caterers washed their hands before preparing food? Can you for certain say that the cook didn’t go to the rest room in between cooking? Improper food handling can make leftover food vulnerable to bacteria and contamination.

Salmonella and other bacteria in meat don’t die easily. If the cat has nine lives, the bacteria have a million. Experts say that poultry and stuffing needs to be cooked at 165 degrees Fahrenheit, pork at 145 degrees Fahrenheit, Beef, lamb and seafood at 145 degrees Fahrenheit, rare beef at 130 degrees Fahrenheit and ground beef like hamburger at 155 degrees Fahrenheit. Have you used a thermometer while cooking? If you don’t, then make sure you eat your beefsteak in two hours or any leftover makes it vulnerable for bacteria to party on your leftover.

Same thing with salads, sandwiches and uncooked food like cold cuts, sashimi, these should be eaten or refrigerated promptly because bacteria can quickly multiply.

The other problem is storage, plastic containers have been found to leach their chemicals into stored food. The longer you store food in plastic containers, the more you transfer the chemicals into the food. It is also good to store in shallow and small containers so it is easy to chill. In any case, plastics can do you harm. You may have kept the food safe from  bacteria as this is chilled, but the plastic chemicals is the other enemy.

The other thing is reheating. The reason why it is not good to reheat bahawor leftover rice is because these contain spores or a bacteria called Bacillus cereus that don’t die when reheated. Even though Bacillus cereous spores are not readily eliminated by cooking, eating rice won’t cause food poisoning if kept hot before serving and not allowed to sit around at room temperature. If this happens, the spores germinate into active bacteria. Rice should always be served immediately after it is prepared.

If you want to bring home leftovers, leave the rice behind especially fried rice, which is often the culprit in many cases of rice food poisoning. Don’t take chances with your health by reheating restaurant rice at home.

Better still don’t take chances with leftover food. Just throw it away. God will always give bread daily. Eat what you can consume. Otherwise, you may find yourself feasting on worms.