Germaine Mobley, 62, is a Texas resident who loves going out to eat. She has a variety of options to choose from being close to the Mexican border, so she knows that she can’t go wrong when picking a dinner.

Unfortunately, after eating fried rice at a restaurant just outside of Dallas, Mobley suddenly felt ill and began getting very sick on her way home from the restaurant.

She really thought she might die, and if she had known about an illness called fried rice syndrome she would have gone straight to the emergency room. Instead, she tried to brush off her symptoms and go about her day.

Finally, when her symptoms persisted and got worse, she went to the emergency room and found herself in the intensive care unit. She now wants people to know about fried rice syndrome.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for a chef to allow rice to sit at room temperature to keep it from clumping. But when this happens, bacteria can form and make those who eat it very sick.

The hazardous bacteria is call bacillus cereus, and with the temperatures in the summer being so hot, the bacteria can cook faster than ever before. Cooks say that its not uncommon to leave rice out to cool, but it is a time period that they need to watch carefully.

Rice cannot be allowed to cool for more than six hours without risking the bacteria growth. Mobley has since hired an attorney to fight the restaurant that she claims almost killed her.

Mobley spent more than a week in the hospital and says she won’t be eating fried rice again any time soon. Asian King Buffet, where Mobley claims she got sick, denies that they were the problem.

Have you heard of fried rice syndrome? Be sure to share this with your friends so they can be safe too.