Student, 20, dies in his sleep after eating pasta that he'd prepared for himself five days earlier and left out
- A student died after eating leftover pasta that had been left on his kitchen benchtop for five days
- The 20-year-old from Belgium became sick after eating leftover spaghetti
- The noodles had been stored at room temperature for much of the week
- After becoming violently ill, he went to bed to try and sleep the sickness off, only to be found dead in bed the next morning by his devastated parents
A student has died after eating a bowl of pasta that he had left out on on his kitchen benchtop for five days.
The 20-year-old from Brussels in Belgium fell sick after consuming spaghetti leftovers which had been made five days earlier and stored at room temperature.
The man, known only as AJ, became violently ill and went to bed to try and sleep it off.
The following morning he was found dead in his bed by his shocked parents.
A student has died after eating a bowl of pasta that he had left out on on his kitchen benchtop for five days (file photo)
The incident occurred in October 2008 and happened after the man came home from school one day.
He warmed the spaghetti in the microwave oven before heading out to play sports.
He ended up coming home half an hour later suffering from headaches, abdominal pain, and nausea.
He threw up for several hours and went to the bathroom twice only to fall asleep around midnight.
The man's lifeless body was discovered 11 hours later by his 'worried' parents who only became concerned when he didn't get up for college.
An autopsy revealed he had died suddenly from food poisoning caused by a bacteria called bacillus cereus.
Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacteria that produces toxins, causing cause vomiting and diarrhea.
Although AJ experienced such symptoms, he assumed that they were simply part of While the student — known only as AJ — experienced both these symptoms, he treated his symptoms as a regular bout of food poisoning, drinking plenty of water and didn't take any medication.
Pasta and tomato sauce samples, the leftovers of the dinner, were also sent for analysis to the National Reference Laboratory for Food-borne Outbreaks
It found that the toxins from the bacteria were so great, they caused his liver to fail and he ended up dead.
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The case, which originally featured in the US Journal of Clinical Microbiology, explained how the harmful bacteria caused AJ's liver to shut down.
Dr Bernard, a licenced practitioner who studies and shares bizarre medical cases found around the world on his YouTube channel.
Samples of spoiled pasta and the tomato sauce were analysed.
The National Reference Laboratory for Food-borne Outbreaks confirmed the spaghetti was contaminated with 'significant amounts' of the B.cereus, although there was none in the sauce.
'Many people eat pasta, or any other form of noodles, that are leftover for a day or two and they're fine,' he said, '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.'
Commentators online did not show much sympathy for the student.
'That was kinda dumb but not really something you expect to kill you a day later,' one person wrote.
'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,' said added.
