If cooked rice has been left out of the refrigerator overnight, what is the appropriate action to take?

When cooked rice has been left out at room temperature overnight, the safest action to take is to throw it away. The reason for this is that cooked rice can harbor Bacillus cereus, a type of bacteria that produces toxins which can lead to foodborne illness. These toxins are not destroyed by reheating, meaning that even if the rice is heated, it could still pose a significant risk of food poisoning.

Food safety guidelines recommend that perishable foods, including cooked rice, should not be left out for more than two hours at room temperature. When it exceeds this time frame, as it has in this case, the food is no longer safe to consume, and discarding it is the only way to ensure safety. Other options, such as reheating or refrigerating the rice, would not mitigate the risks associated with the bacteria and toxins that may have developed during the time the rice was left out.