# How is it possible to burp up something 9 hours after eating it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662 "2009-06-13T14:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/1 "2009-06-13T14:21:32Z")
I’d like to say this thread was inspired by something important here on the boards, but it’s not. I’m mainly asking because I ate some imitation bacon bits the other night, brushed my teeth, then woke up around 9 hours later and the first couple of burps of the day STILL tasted like imitation bacon bits. I was under the impression that most food moves through your stomach within 2-3 hours after eating. What is it that makes garlic, imitation bacon bits, etc., last so long going through the digestive tract? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/2 "2009-06-13T15:02:29Z")
Well obviously things just stay longer in the bacon stomach, the magical extra stomach we have that allows us to eat unlimited amounts of bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/3 "2009-06-13T15:52:50Z")
My husband does this all the time because of his [hiatal hernia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiatus_hernia). Sometimes he even burps up bits of food. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/4 "2009-06-13T16:15:35Z")
I do it all the time with various foods, because I have gastroparesis. Had a study done where I ate some oatmeal containing little radioactive bits, and after two hours most of it was still bouncing around in my stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/5 "2009-06-13T21:42:51Z")
I don’t think I have any digestive issues, but one night around 7:30 or so I ate a grilled chicken sandwich from BK and the next morning at 6 I was still burping grilled chicken. Never had it happen before or since and I have no idea why that meal decided to take its sweet time going on down. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/6 "2009-06-13T21:52:29Z")
This isn’t unusual for someone with a reflux problem. It happened to me quite regularly, before I started taking Prilosec. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/7 "2009-06-14T00:04:32Z")
On possibility to consider is that small bits of food get caught in folds of your stomach lining where they can be relatively protected from digestion and/or passage past the pyloric valve. For foods with intense aromas, even small bits caught here and there can continue to produce tastes and aromas when you burp. As mentioned above, motility disorders of the esophagus and stomach can contribute to food not passing, but that would be an abnormal condition. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-possible-to-burp-up-something-9-hours-after-eating-it/499662/8 "2009-06-14T00:11:48Z")
Warning, this is gross. Highlight to read the below. I once ate a salad for lunch and threw it up with no visible changes outside the chewing the following morning.