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Bacillus cereus

In the body: Brings vomiting or diarrhea within hours of eating.

Not rated by dose: a flag on 2 reviewed foods, among them white rice and Brown rice, cooked.

Depends how you handle it. Safe one way, risky another: cook it, soak it, boil it or freeze it, as the agency says.

All hazards

The reference value and where it comes from

Reviewed foods that carry it

2 reviewed foods carry it; none is rated by dose.

How often you can eat it

No food here is rated by dose. Each line says why it’s listed: a flag for the people the source names, advice on handling it, or context.

Flags and context, not rated by dose

  • Brown rice, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Rodrigo 2021 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for a handling warning: spores survive cooking, so cooked rice held warm is the risk. There is no dose limit and no grams figure. The flag is the same as for white rice; the one brown-rice-specific point is that high spore loads are described as more common in brown than in white rice.

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: cooked rice held warm; spores survive cooking

  • White rice, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Public Health Agency of Canada, Pathogen Safety Data Sheet: Bacillus… · grade B

    How it’s rated

    A handling flag: cooked rice kept in the 4-60 °C danger zone lets spores germinate and make the vomiting toxin (cereulide), which reheating does not destroy. Vomiting starts 0.5-6 hours after eating (PHAC). Cool cooked rice quickly, refrigerate it promptly, and do not rely on reheating.

    Intake: not dose-based

    Measured on: acute, preparation and handling (Type 3a, dose-and-handling, not presence): cooked rice held warm or cooled slowly

Sources