These 11 Foods When Reheated And Eaten Can Be Harmful To Health

Most often the leftover food is stored to be used the next day. But rarely do most know that the food stored would have become a house of bacteria, eating which can cause illness.

There are certain foods which if reheated and eaten can be harmful to health.

Salmonella is always present in eggs. Eggs are cooked at a low temperature which mostly doesn’t kill the bacteria.

Leaving the eggs at room temperature for a long time can give bacteria a medium to multiply rapidly to harmful levels.

Eggs taste best when eaten freshly cooked. And, also can be easily boiled or scrambled. There is also no need to cook and save it.

Beetroots contain nitric oxide which can help give the workout a boost and also helps with the blood pressure.

But if such nitrate-rich food, if cooked and not cooled properly and reheated can lead to the conversion of nitrates to nitrites and then nitrosamine, which are considered carcinogenic.

Regularly eating reheated nitrate-rich foods such as beet or turnip can increase the risk of cancer.

Potatoes have a similar fate as eggs if cooked for long and left to cool at room temperature for long. It can lead to the growth of clostridium botulinum bacteria which can cause botulism.

More at risk are the large foil-wrapped baked potatoes. These offer an ideal low-oxygen environment to thrive in.

Spinach, just like beet, is the nitrate-rich food. To reduce the chances of conversion of these nitrates to carcinogenic substances, it is important that you eat spinach raw or lightly sautéed.

Nitrite, a by-product of heating nitrate-rich foods is not safe for infants. If giving them spinach in pureed form, do not heat it.

Breast milk is the healthiest thing you can give to a child.

But it is important to keep in mind certain things while feeding the child. Babies while drinking milk contaminate the bottle when they suck it. This makes milk a breeding ground for bacteria present in their saliva. Warming the milk does not kill the bacteria and can cause havoc in the system of the infant.

Rice contains a microorganism called Bacillus cereus. It multiplies at room temperature. There was actually an outbreak of food poisoning in 1970 associated with the fried rice of a Chinese restaurant that led to an increase in the awareness about this microorganism in rice.⁽¹⁾

This does not mean you have to throw away the unused rice, but make sure you stash it in the fridge as soon as possible.

Just like eggs, chicken also contains salmonella. Time and low-temperature help this bacterium multiply.

Make sure you do not reheat the meat twice. Also, while heating flip it, so that the entire thing is hot.

Flaxseed oil, canola oil, and other seed oils are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acid. They are known for their numerous health benefits. But you should also know that they are sensitive to temperature.

Heating and reheating them can make them unstable and rancid, which is not safe.

Exceeding the smoke point of oil reduces its nutritional properties. Also, the smoke released contains hazardous fumes with toxins that include free radicals.⁽²⁾ This increases the risk of disease and aging.

Most of you might crib if the buffet is not allowed to take to go. Buffet trays are not hot enough to kill microbes, which grow rapidly while they sit out.

This also applies to the home buffet parties.

Fresh fish is extremely healthy, but bad seafood carries a risk of food poisoning.

Any seafood not kept between 40 and 140 degrees, makes an environment apt for bacterial growth. Even the room temperature can affect it.

If not eaten, seafood should not be kept out for more than one hour.

Not wasting food is good, but eating food that has been stored for long should be avoided, eat fresh and stay healthy.