Student Dies From Eating 5-Day-Old Pasta Despite Treatment For Food Poisoning

A 20-year-old student died after eating a bowl of pasta that was left on his kitchen benchtop for five days. The incident took place in Brussels.

The young man was reportedly found unresponsive hours after he had eaten the spaghetti with tomato sauce which was stored at room temperature. The student ate the bowl of pasta after microwaving it before heading out to play. According to reports, he returned home half an hour later complaining of headaches, nausea and abdominal pain.

After hours of sickness, the student was treated to the symptoms as regular food poisoning, by keeping hydrated and trying to sleep it off. His parents, however, found him dead in the house 11 hours later, the Sun reported.

An autopsy revealed that the young man, identified only as AJ, died suddenly from food poisoning caused by bacteria called Bacillus cereus — a spore-forming bacteria that produces vomit or diarrhea-producing toxins.

"B. cereus produces two types of toxins – emetic (vomiting) and diarrhoeal – causing two types of illness. The emetic syndrome is caused by emetic toxin produced by the bacteria during the growth phase in the food. The diarrhoeal syndrome is caused by diarrhoeal toxins produced during growth of the bacteria in the small intestine," according to the Food Standards Authority.

Despite being treated, the toxins from the bacteria caused liver failure, killing him in his sleep.

The leftover pasta which the student ate was tested by the National Reference Laboratory for Food-borne Outbreaks and it was revealed that it had life-threatening toxins.

"Many people eat pasta, or any other form of noodles, that are leftover for a day or two and they’re fine. But be careful of food left out for more than a few hours. If the food smells funny, it’s always better to be safe than sorry," Dr. Bernard, a licensed practitioner who reviewed the case, said.

A video featuring the case was shared on YouTube earlier in January and has shocked several users.

“That was kinda dumb but not really something you expect to kill you a day later,” one person wrote on Reddit. “I don’t know why anyone would leave perishable food in the kitchen for 5 days and think it’s okay to still eat it,” another added.