Latest news with #foodPoisoning
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
What the Erin Patterson murder trial jury was told this week that you NEVER heard about - as new details emerge about how much SHE ate of the deadly beef Wellington
Erin Patterson claims she ate only half of a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms at her deadly lunch. Patterson made the claim to hospital staff and a child protection officer in the days following the lunch that claimed the lives of her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. The jury has already heard Gail Patterson ate just half of her pastie-sized beef Wellington, with her husband finishing off the rest. Unlike Patterson, the portion was enough to make Gail violently ill within hours and eventually killed her. On Friday, Dr Dimitri Gerostamoulos, head of forensic science at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, suggested Patterson's portion should have caused an 'adverse outcome' for her. Patterson has pleaded not guilty to killing her three lunch guests and the attempted murder of Pastor Ian Wilkinson - the lone survivor of the deadly lunch. Mr Wilkinson was seated in the court on Friday after completing his evidence in the first days of the trial. Crown prosecutor Sarah Lenthall asked Dr Gerostamoulos what his expectations were for someone with no pre-existing health conditions eating the same meal that killed another person. 'Yes, there would be likely that there would be some adverse outcomes for that person who survived, the severity of which may vary depending on some of the factors that I've previously spoken about today,' he said. Dr Gerostamoulos said there was a recent case in Victoria where two people consumed the same meal where one died but the other survived. 'The other one was significantly ill for a period of time and ended up in ICU,' he said. 'So it is possible but it will depend on how much is eaten, the person's response to that amount of toxin as well.' The jury heard a person's weight could be a factor in how ingesting death cap mushrooms would affect their 'toxic response'. Dr Gerostamoulos agreed multiple factors including weight, age, health status and how much of a meal containing death caps consumed would vary from person to person. He agreed that even if a person ate the same meal as someone else which contained death caps, it was possible one person's toxicity levels would be different to the other's. The jury heard for the first time this week that Patterson claimed not to have eaten all of her beef Wellington. Director of Infection Prevention and Public Health At Monash Health Rhonda Stuart said Patterson gave her the information when she was admitted into hospital. 'I recall she said she ate about half of her meal,' she said. 'One of the relatives ate a meal and a half and the rest - and the other two ate most of theirs but there was some leftover and that's what she said the kids had the following day, minus the mushroom paste that she'd scraped off.' Child protection practitioner Katrina Cripps was also grilled on the subject by Patterson's barrister Sophie Stafford. Ms Cripps maintained Patterson had also told her she consumed just half of her beef Wellington, which was allegedly served on a different coloured plate than her guests. The jury has heard from a series of medical practitioners throughout the first two weeks of the trial. While Patterson did go to hospital two days after the lunch, Leongatha Hospital nurse Cindy Munro told the court she didn't look overly sick to her when she presented back there the second time. 'She didn't look unwell like Heather and Ian. Ian was so unwell he could barely lift his head off the pillow,' she told the jury. 'Erin was sitting up in the trolley and she didn't look unwell to me.' Ms Cripps said Patterson told her she had found the recipe for her lunch from a RecipeTin Eats cookbook because she 'wanted to do something new and special' for lunch. Ms Cripps said Patterson told her she bought chopped mushrooms from a local Woolworths and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer. Patterson said she used the dried mushrooms because she heard they would 'add flavour' to the beef Wellingtons. The trial, which is being held at the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in Morwell, in Victoria's Gippsland, suffered a surprise this week when a juror was unexpectedly dismissed. Justice Christopher Beale told the jury he had been alerted to the fact that a male juror had been discussing the trial outside of court. 'A few moments ago, I discharged juror 84,' he said. 'I did so because, as I explained to him, I received information that he had been discussing the case with family and friends, contrary to my instructions.' He told the jury the information he received about the juror seemed 'credible' and therefore had no choice but to let him go. Justice Beale said his swift action should act as a warning to the remaining jurors. 'I want to remind you of my directions that you should only discuss the case with your fellow jurors in the privacy of the jury room (and) not discuss it with anyone else, it's vital to the administration of justice,' he said. On Friday, before releasing the jury for the weekend, Justice Beale again reminded the jury of its responsibilities under the law. 'I don't want to sound like a broken record but only discuss the case with your fellow jurors in the privacy of the jury room, and don't get into a discussion with anybody about the fact that juror 84 was discharged,' he told the jury. The trial continues.
CNET
15-05-2025
- Health
- CNET
That Leftover Rice Could Be Dangerous. Here's How
Meal prepping is a great way to save time and ensure you have dinner during the week so that you aren't spending time in the kitchen after a long day at work. However, not all foods are made for reheating. While staples like chicken and vegetables are easy to reheat, rice can be dangerous. If you've ever wondered whether it's safe to eat leftover rice, there are some things to be aware of before popping it in the microwave. There's a small but very real chance that eating leftover rice or pasta could give you food poisoning. The effects are sometimes referred to as "fried rice syndrome," since fried rice is typically made with leftover rice. Not only can old rice make your stomach miserable, you might even end up in the emergency room. Reddit users have reported some harrowing experiences with "fried rice syndrome," so you'll definitely want to avoid this form of food poisoning. Here's why you may want to avoid preparing a large serving of rice for the week ahead, and how you can properly store and prepare rice to prevent possible food poisoning. For more health tips, check out 12 probiotic foods that will make your stomach happy and learn why the "rizempic" trend could be dangerous. Why does leftover rice have a risk of food poisoning? All varieties of uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that can cause gastrointestinal illness like vomiting or diarrhea. The spores are heat-resistant and don't die when cooked. As the rice cools and enters the food danger zone of between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the bacteria begins to quickly reproduce. There are about 63,400 cases of food poisoning from Bacillus cereus every year in the US, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The big risk for food poisoning arises when rice is sitting out for more than an hour -- that's when the spores of bacteria can multiply greatly. The bacteria isn't a problem if you eat the rice right away. Illness is much more common from eating rice that has sat out at room temperature for a few hours, gets refrigerated and is then eaten a few days later. If your rice sits out for two hours at room temperature or one hour at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it should be thrown away, according to Food Network. What's the best way to store rice to avoid food poisoning? To prevent food poisoning, you should put your leftover rice in the refrigerator soon after you're done cooking it -- the UK's National Health Service recommends storing it "ideally within one hour" -- and limit the amount of time your leftover rice is in the refrigerator. However, you want to be careful to not put a hot container of food in the refrigerator, because that can increase the temperature of other foods and possibly lead to bacterial growth there as well. Food Network recommends portioning the large batch of rice into smaller containers and cooling the rice to room temperature (around 70 degrees). The NHS recommends keeping your rice in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating, while the US Department of Agriculture's FoodKeeper app says you can store cooked rice for four to six days. Food Network says you can continue reheating the rice throughout the three to four days that it has been stored, while the NHS recommends not reheating more than once. What is the safest way to reheat leftover rice? If you are planning on reheating your rice, ensure that the rice comes out of the microwave or off the stove top steaming hot with an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. And the next time you're craving rice, limit the amount you make to what you and your dinner companions plan on eating that day. This also helps to prevent food waste, alongside the benefits of avoiding food poisoning.
