Reheating leftover rice is common, but repeatedly heating rice can become a food-safety concern when it has not been cooled and stored properly. The main risk is not the reheating itself but the way cooked rice is handled between meals.
Raw rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that can survive cooking. If cooked rice is left at room temperature for too long, the bacteria can multiply and produce toxins that may cause vomiting or diarrhoea. Importantly, reheating may not destroy these toxins.
The safest approach is to cool leftover rice quickly after cooking, ideally within an hour, and refrigerate it promptly. Dividing the rice into smaller portions or spreading it out can help it cool faster. The Food Standards Agency recommends keeping refrigerated rice for no more than 24 hours before reheating.
When reheating rice, make sure it is steaming hot throughout and consume it immediately. The Food Standards Agency specifically advises reheating rice only once. FoodSafety.gov also recommends promptly refrigerating cooked leftovers and reheating leftovers thoroughly.
If cooked rice has been left at room temperature for more than two hours, it is safer to discard it rather than attempt to rescue it by reheating. This is particularly important in warm conditions, where food can enter the temperature range in which bacteria multiply rapidly.
For takeaway rice, extra caution is advisable because it may already have been cooked and reheated before purchase. When in doubt about how it was stored or handled, throwing it away is the safer choice.

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