Man dies of food poisoning after eating five-day-old pasta
A 20-year-old man who died of food poisoning had eaten a bowl of five-day-old pasta before his death.
The student, from Brussels in Belgium, fell ill after consuming spaghetti leftovers which had been sitting out for five whole days.
After consuming the old spaghetti, the young man - known only as AJ - left home for his sports activities, but he returned 30 minutes later because of headaches, abdominal pain and nausea.
He then became violently ill and attempted to sleep it off.
He was found dead in his bed the following morning at 11am by his horrified parents.
An autopsy later revealed AJ had died from food poisoning caused by a bacteria named bacillus cereus, according to the US Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
Pasta and sauce samples from the leftover dinners were also tested for the harmful bacteria.
It was found the bacillus cereus in the food had caused AJ's liver to shutdown, killing him only 10 hours after consuming it.
The National Reference Laboratory for Food-borne Outbreaks confirmed the pasta was contaminated with 'significant amounts' of the bacteria, although there was none found in the sauce.
