I ate old pasta and got bacillus cereus poisoning. I'm OK but my guts hurt and my pee reeks. Lesson learned.

submitted by Optimus85 from (self.whatever)

The pasta smelled sour and it felt like I was chewing garbage but I ate it anyway. I'm fine. In fact I'm having a few drinks right now. Though I was freaking out a bit yesterday. I'm glad it wasn't salmonella. I ate dubious sushi from a food court once and was purging from both ends.

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[–]American_Muskrat 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I ate it anyway

Ugh been there. I learned the hard way not to eat funny tasting food. And yeah, seafood gives you the worst food poisoning. Oysters got me once. It was a Michelin starred restaurant too.

Glad you're feeling better!

[–]Optimus85[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks! The expiry date was December 17th but I guess once the container is open you've got like 4-5 days. Anyway, they were raviolis and I chalked up the smell to the cheese in the stuffing. I was wrong... I wouldn't fuck around with oysters either.

[–]HiddenFox 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Was this dry pasta you cooked up or pre cooked pasta?

[–]Optimus85[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It was fresh(not so fresh) pasta. Dry pasta shouldn't be an issue. Note to self: even though the expiry date might be 3 weeks away, once the package is opened, you have less than a week to consume it or risk suffering from bacterial pathogens. I just has mild stomach cramps though. But my sweat and urine smelled sus AF.

[–]In-the-clouds 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

How did you determine the specific bacteria strain that infected you?

Old dry pasta would be safe to eat as long as it was kept dry and cooking in boiling water will disinfect it. I understand from your other comments that you ate pre-cooked ravioli with cheese. Did you simply take it out of the fridge and heat it up in the microwave oven?

Years ago, I learned a lesson about food that does not smell or taste pleasant. I got sick from eating lentils pre-cooked on a previous day, that were allowed to warm up to room temperature because the fridge was not working, and the lentils did not smell or taste right. But I had no other source of protein available at that time, so I ate it anyway. Soon after I was vomiting outside. I learned. Our sense of taste and smell is not just for enjoying pleasure, but to warn us to not consume something unsavory.

[–]Optimus85[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Brave browser now has AI built into search. The answer matched my symptoms but without proper tests it's still just a guess. I don't think it was salmonella or e-coli. I boiled the pasta but apparently that doesn't break down the spores.

[–]In-the-clouds 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Brave's AI is also available in the Firefox browser, which I use sometimes. https://search.brave.com/