Student died after eating pasta

Owain_Moneysaver

Student died after eating pasta he left out on worktop

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/28/student-died-eating-pasta-left-worktop-five-days-8401285/?ito=cbshare

I know we all like saving leftovers and treating sell/use-by dates with some disdain, but this is what happens when it goes badly wrong.

AJ vomited for several hours and went to bed at around midnight to try and sleep it off but was found dead by his parents 11 hours later

A post mortem found that he died suddenly from food poisoning caused by bacillus cereus – a spore-forming bacteria that produces toxins and can lead to vomiting and diarrhoea.

... when the food was tested by the National Refereance Laboratory for Food-borne Outbreaks, it was found that it was so poisonous it caused his liver to fail.

... AJ died in 2008. The case came to light recently after it featured in the US Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Dr Bernard reviewed it for his YouTube channel.

Brambling

Hopefully most of us have the sense to put LOs in the fridge or freezer and even then I probably wouldn't eat it after 5 days in the fridge. As with most things common sense is required

unforeseen

Left for 5 days on a worktop? Not even chilled. Definite Darwin nomination.

Just proves that intelligence doesn't equate to common sense.

pricew1970

How sad, and highlights the need for parents to help educate their children rather than expecting schools to do everything for them ��

Mr.Generous

I admit to eating cold leftover Chinese or pizza for breakfast the morning after, but 5 DAYS!!

Pollycat

pricew1970 wrote: »

How sad, and highlights the need for parents to help educate their children rather than expecting schools to do everything for them ��

Shouldn't he - as an adult - have had enough sense to realise that eating food that had been left out for 5 days was a recipe for disaster?

Guerillatoker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ujTYLV2Qo4

Watch this breakdown of the exact mechanics by which he died. The pasta was the trigger, but a full bottle of pepto bismal (contains aspirin) was the catalyst that ultimately killed him.

Also the pasta only initially spent 2 days out of the fridge which the student wasn't aware of, because his flatmate innocently put it in the fridge when he noticed it. It spent 3 days in the fridge before being consumed. Not 5 days left out.

Every video on that channel is great, if you're not a hypochondriac.

Pollycat

Guerillatoker wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ujTYLV2Qo4

Watch this breakdown of the exact mechanics by which he died. The pasta was the trigger, but a full bottle of pepto bismal (contains aspirin) was the catalyst that ultimately killed him.

Also the pasta only initially spent 2 days out of the fridge which the student wasn't aware of, because his flatmate innocently put it in the fridge when he noticed it. It spent 3 days in the fridge before being consumed. Not 5 days left out.

Every video on that channel is great, if you're not a hypochondriac.

Then Metro should do their research properly before posting an incorrect headline...

pricew1970

Pollycat wrote: »

Shouldn't he - as an adult - have had enough sense to realise that eating food that had been left out for 5 days was a recipe for disaster?

Don't be so quick to judge, do you know what personal issues, mental health problems etc.the poor kid had. A young life lost is a terrible thing, Please have some compassion, we can't all be perfect as you obviously are.....

Pollycat

pricew1970 wrote: »

Don't be so quick to judge, do you know what personal issues, mental health problems etc.the poor kid had. A young life lost is a terrible thing, Please have some compassion, we can't all be perfect as you obviously are.....

No, I don't.
Do you?
Why do people always have to throw in the 'personal issues, mental health problems' card? Just in case...

What I do know is that we're discussing someone who died 11 years ago.
It's really not about AJ who dies in 2008, who lived in Belgium.
It's about the US Journal of Clinical Microbiology who featured his case on YouTube.
AJ is simply a case study as far as the article is concerned.


I appreciate the message in the original post but I really can't get all worked up about someone who I didn't know.
I'll save my compassion for someone else.

EachPenny

pricew1970 wrote: »

Don't be so quick to judge, do you know what personal issues, mental health problems etc.the poor kid had. A young life lost is a terrible thing, Please have some compassion, we can't all be perfect as you obviously are.....

Watching the video that Guerillatoker posted a link to, this doesn't seem relevant.

The guy made a mistake, which due to someone else's prior mistake turned out to have lethal consequences. Having eaten something which didn't smell/taste right he then compounded the problem by overdosing on medication and then going to sleep rather than seeking medical help.

For all we know he might have had personal problems, but they weren't the cause of his death.