Yeah 4 days is stretching it, was more commentary on rice taste/quality vs rice stored in fridge and reheated. As for 12 hours, I know it's the guidelines, but plenty of people I know grew up eating multiday room temperature stored rice. IIRC China released data on bacillus cereus outbreaks a year ago, and they had <10 deaths and a few 1000 hospitalizations over 10 years from a billion rice eaters - cause was primarily poor food handling in cafeterias. Risk:reward wise, 2-3 days works for me, but I also have pretty strong stomach when travelling.