A Family Ate 1 Year Old Frozen Leftovers For Breakfast. This Is What Happened To Their Organs.
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters cite it as a vivid example of food-poisoning risk from old starchy or coconut/corn foods, and as the go-to explainer for bongkrek acid, which cooking and freezing do not destroy.
Recommended by 1 people across 1 different months, 2024 to 2026.
What it is
Chubbyemu (a medical case-story channel) dramatizes a real 2020 Heilongjiang incident in which a family ate year-old frozen fermented corn noodles and developed multi-organ failure from bongkrekic acid. It walks through the toxin's effect on mitochondria, the patients' symptoms, and treatment, using actors and cited case reports.
What people said
Recommends lucyjojo · 2025-12 · Hacker News · on “Why Leftover Pizza Might Be Healthier”
My father almost died from old rice and my brother got seriously sick and hospitalized from another old sitting starchy something. So it seems very real for me. classic chubbyemu [this video] please. don't take unnecessary risks with food... in most cases it's not like "not getting involved in an accident". there are things you can do to avoid egregious cases.
Cites bloaf · 2024-10 · Hacker News · on “Popular gut probiotic craps out in randomized controlled trial”
There are some choices you can make that seem innocuous but dramatically increase the chances of lethal outcomes, like using corn or coconut. [this video] [LINK]
Cites dkbrk · 2026-08 · Hacker News · on “Bomb fishing is wreaking havoc on Indonesia's coral reefs”
Either can happen. The root cause is growth of Burkholderia gladioli [0] on certain foods rich in specific fatty acids, which include coconut and corn. This can happen during the fermentation process of fermented coconut and corn products if there's Burkholderia gladioli contamination and the pH, salinity and temperature aren't controlled to prevent its growth, but it is also possible for Burkholderia gladioli to contaminate food containing coconut or corn after it has been produced and produce bongkrek acid while it is being stored (e.g. [1], which is where I first learned about this). Bongkrek acid [2] is odorless, tasteless and is not destroyed by cooking. Food can show no signs of spoila