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Botulism Primer

136K views 124 replies 61 participants last post by  mannafromheaven 
#1 ·
Disclaimer - I am not, nor am I pretending to be any sort of medical expert. All I have done is compile the information I have learned from reputable sources for you to consider. One of the posts included here will have all the links to my references (I hope.) I do not include the chapter and verse because I encourage you to read the information yourself. There is much more to learn about foodborne illnesses, treatment, and more importantly for our potential survival the prevention and detection of foodborne illnesses. I am starting with botulism as it seems to be one of the most misunderstood foodborne illnesses.

If this is of any use to anyone, I am planning on exploring some of the other foodborne illnesses we could come in contact with. If it is not of any use to anyone, well at least I've practiced my keyboard skills.

Botulism is an illness caused by one of three nerve toxins of the clostridium bacteria group that occur naturally in our soil. There are certain conditions that must be met for the clostridium bacteria to cause botulism. We will look at those conditions later.

There are five types of botulism -

*Foodborne botulism - caused by eating foods with the botulism toxin (not just the spores.) This is the one we hear about the most.
*Wound botulism - an infection of a wound by the botulism toxin. At this time, with modern cleanliness practices available, most wound botulism infections occur at the site of injection of black tar heroin.
*Infant botulism - caused by eating the botulism spores that then thrive in the intestines and produce the toxin. This is the reason behind the "no raw honey for babies" that you hear about. After about a year old infants are not suseptible to this problem as their systems have developed sufficiently to keep the spores from "hatching" in their systems.
*Adult intestinal botulism - this is an extremely rare occurance, similar to infant botulism and only occurs in very medically compromised adults.
*Iatrogenic botulism - is literally an overdose of botulism toxin.

There are, on average, 145 cases of botulism in the U.S. each year. Of these, 65% (94 cases are infant botulism), 20% (29 cases) are wound botulism, and 15% (22 cases) are foodborne. The last two types on the list, adult intestinal and Iatrogenic, are so rare that statistically they just don't show up for practical purposes.
 
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#2 ·
Foodborne Botulism and Commercially Canned Foods

Of the average 22 cases of foodborne botulism that occur each year in the U.S., almost all occur in home canned foods. We will look at that phenomenon later in the thread.

There were 405 reported cases of foodborne botulism between 1950 - 2005. 92%, or 371 cases were related to home canned foods. The remaining 34 cases were commercially canned foods. (That figure has since increased to 38, covered below.)

Commercially Canned Foods -

There have been 38 cases of foodborne botulism in the U.S. from commercially canned foods since 1950 (63 years.) This includes the last two outbreaks - 2 people from canned beef stew in 1974 and 4 people from canned hot dog chili in 2007. Both cases were later found to be related to faulty equipment and processes at the cannery.
 
#118 ·
Foodborne Botulism and Commercially Canned Foods

Of the average 22 cases of foodborne botulism that occur each year in the U.S., almost all occur in home canned foods. We will look at that phenomenon later in the thread.

Is a tainted can... not easy to spot, if one pays attention?

For instance... I canned 32 quarts of stew meat. I let them sit for 60 days... and then I noticed one of the 32 that had no vacuum and it was a different color than the other jars. I promptly popped the lid and poured it out in the trash.

These people that get botulism.... Are they just not paying attention?


.........
 
#3 ·
Conditions for botulism development

Conditions needed for botulism to develop:

Botulinum spores are not in themselves harmful to us. It is when they hatch, creating the toxin that they pose a health risk.
Botulism is the illness caused by the toxin.

The spores of the bacteria that cause botulism can live dormant in the soil for a very long time. For the spores to develop into botulism, they need a low acid, low oxygen environment. If it is processed inappropriately, canned food is perfect medium for the development of the toxin.

There are so few outbreaks of botulism in commercially canned foods due to the higher processing temperatures achievable by commercial equipment which destroys the toxin. There are particular guidelines for home canned foods to make it safe.
 
#4 ·
Symptoms and treatment of botulism

The classic symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness.

Infants with botulism appear lethargic, feed poorly, are constipated, and have a weak cry and poor muscle tone.

These are all symptoms of the muscle paralysis caused by the bacterial toxin. If untreated, these symptoms may progress to cause paralysis of the respiratory muscles, arms, legs, and trunk. In foodborne botulism, symptoms generally begin 18 to 36 hours after eating a contaminated food, but they can occur as early as 6 hours or as late as 10 days.

-----
Treatment for botulism can be long and complex. It often requires ventilator support for breathing as the muscle paralysis stops the patient from breathing independently. Long hospital stays and intensive medical and nursing treatment are necessary for recovery if the problem is not diagnosed and treated very early in the illness. Fatigue and shortness of breath can last for years after initial recovery.

Modern medicine has reduced the fatality rate for botulism from 50% to slightly under 3%. There has been no cure found, the change has occurred simply from the increased medical support available.
 
#5 ·
How to avoid botulism

Botulism requires a low acid, low oxygen environment to produce the toxin.

The botulism bacteria spores are not harmful, with the exceptions of infants and severely medically compromised adults. The danger is in the toxins which can be produced in certain environments.

Home Canning - Botulism is not a problem in high acid foods. If your canning manual (printed in the last 30 years) says a food can be water bath canned, then it is a high acid food. If the food you are canning is a meat, vegetable, or combination product, you must pressure can that food. It is simple. There are clear guidelines that will lead you to safe food canning.

All of the "granny did it this way" and "in my country we only warm the jars on a cigarette lighter and it works" advice in the world won't protect your food nor your family from botulism. Follow the guidelines. If you haven't purchased a new canning manual in the last 10 - 15 years, get one. If you absolutely cannot afford one, then bookmark the National Center for Home Food Preservation website, http://nchfp.uga.edu/ and use it.

Boiling water temperatures, 212 degrees, as used in water bath canning (appropriate only for high acid foods - fruits and tomatoes IF another acid is added) are not high enough to destroy the botulinum spores. The temperature in a pressure canner rises to 240 degrees and will destroy the botulinum spores so it cannot form the toxin.

When you open a can of food, inspect it. Check to make sure it was sealed, check for odor that would indicate the food had been contaminated. (Although botulism toxin does not leave an off odor, other contaminants most often do.)

One of the guidelines for home canning food safety is that when you open a can of home canned food (excluding fruit products as they are high acid), bring it to a boil and cook for 10 minutes before consumption. Even though pressure canning temperatures are high enough to destroy the spores, it takes so very little of the toxin to cause severe illness, it is considered part of the standard safety procedures to boil the food before you consume it. If one spore escaped destruction in the canning process, it could develop enough toxin to cause severe illness without the precautionary boiling. As this severe illness has about a 50% death rate without modern medical support, it is of particular concern to those of us canning food to provide for our survival.

When I was young(er), the biggest culprit of home canned food illness was tomatoes. Tomatoes were prone to be low acid in the area I was in but were water bath canned as if they were higher in acid. They were also more likely to be opened, put in a bowl and eaten with no further preparation. Now we know that adding acid to the tomatoes when canning will correct any low acid problems. Guidelines recommend 1/2 tsp. citric acid or 2 tablespoons lemon juice will increase the acidity enough to ensure the tomatoes are safe.
 
#6 · (Edited)
#7 ·
Thanks Mel. This thread was long over due. Nice work!
 
#11 ·
When you can the food the botulinum spores can be present. In the low acid, low oxygen environment of the canning jar, the botulinum spores "hatch" and that produces the toxin. The spores require 240 degrees minimum to be killed. Botulism which is the toxin that can develop from the spores can be killed at 212 degrees.

The reason you must pressure can to kill the spores is so they cannot develop into the toxin. The reason you have to boil the food when you open the jar is because if even one spore were to escape being destroyed in the canning process, it can develop enough toxin to cause severe illness or even death. It is really unbelievable how little toxin has to be present to make you very ill.
 
#10 ·
240 kills the spores so they can't produce toxin.
212 destroys the toxin.
 
#12 ·
When you can the food the botulinum spores can be present. In the low acid, low oxygen environment of the canning jar, the botulinum spores "hatch" and that produces the toxin. The spores require 240 degrees minimum to be killed. Botulism which is the toxin that can develop from the spores can be killed at 212 degrees.

The reason you must pressure can to kill the spores is so they cannot develop into the toxin. The reason you have to boil the food when you open the jar is because if even one spore were to escape being destroyed in the canning process, it can develop enough toxin to cause severe illness or even death. It is really unbelievable how little toxin has to be present to make you very ill.

I get it now. Thanks Shawn and Mel.
 
#13 ·
this has always been a caution, and quiet terror to me.. I am encouraged to see the low prevalence of it,, I thought it was much more common
at the same time, I am not at all confident about home canning now.. not that I was...anyway,..

very thorough and much needed post thread,, I must re read this and take notes,,
hey, if SHTF,, I cannot read it here,, and this is big time important stuff,

a question = are sugared foods like jams and jellies safe from botulism ?

another, = you say the spores are not harmful, the toxin produced is.....if we eat fallen apples and such,, as we do is there any chance the toxin had developed in or on the ground or the apples, ? if so,, how do we handle that situation..

one more question,, I know you said 240 to kill the spores and 212 to neutraize the toxin,, but would extended ..hours and hours,, maybe 6 or 8 ...like slow pasteurization by "slow Cooking" or simmering
(I think simmering, not vigorous boiling would be just under 212 right ? )
, as I do in making applesauce----- render either of them harmless ?

anohter question = how about when making vinegar with the apples,

another = how about making applejack aka hard alcoholic cider '

in either of those cases can one be certain that botulism is not a threat

another (off Topic) question,, how about getting salmonella from slugs or snails crawling over fallen apples or tomatoes on the vine etc ( another thread perhaps ?)

Tnanks
 
#14 · (Edited)
this has always been a caution, and quiet terror to me.. I am encouraged to see the low prevalence of it,, I thought it was much more common
at the same time, I am not at all confident about home canning now.. not that I was...anyway,..
----------
very thorough and much needed post thread,, I must re read this and take notes,,
hey, if SHTF,, I cannot read it here,, and this is big time important stuff,
----------
a question = are sugared foods like jams and jellies safe from botulism ?
----------
another, = you say the spores are not harmful, the toxin produced is.....if we eat fallen apples and such,, as we do is there any chance the toxin had developed in or on the ground or the apples, ? if so,, how do we handle that situation..
----------
one more question,, I know you said 240 to kill the spores and 212 to neutraize the toxin,, but would extended ..hours and hours,, maybe 6 or 8 ...like slow pasteurization by "slow Cooking" or simmering
(I think simmering, not vigorous boiling would be just under 212 right ? )
, as I do in making applesauce----- render either of them harmless ?
----------
anohter question = how about when making vinegar with the apples,

another = how about making applejack aka hard alcoholic cider '

in either of those cases can one be certain that botulism is not a threat
----------
another (off Topic) question,, how about getting salmonella from slugs or snails crawling over fallen apples or tomatoes on the vine etc ( another thread perhaps ?)
----------
Tnanks
Thank you for your kind words. I'll answer your questions in order you asked them, but I don't like interspersing my answers with someone's questions, it can get confusing sometimes.

Understanding the risks and the ways to avoid the risks should make you more comfortable with home canning. It will, unless you are already prejudiced against it for some personal reason. The lack of knowledge is your enemy, not the addition of knowledge. Learning the differences in when waterbath canning is appropriate and when pressure canning is necessary is a big step in the right direction. When I started canning, there was not nearly the knowledge base available regarding safe food handling or canning methods. I look back at some of the things I was hand-me-down taught about canning and it makes me shudder. Fortunately, as knowledge has increased, canning methods have been refined making it a relatively easy and safe method of preserving food.
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There is nothing in sugar that either aids or prevents botulism. There is, however, a difference between high acid and low acid foods. Fruits, including the jams, jellies, and preserves we make from them are high acid foods. For botulism to develop it must have a low acid, extremely low oxygen environment. Therefore, the growth environment for botulism is not present.
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We do not get botulism from the spores with the exception of infants (mainly through honey) and persons who are already extremely medically compromised and in really rare circumstances have such a disabled digestive system that they react to the spores the same as infants. Aside from those two instances, the spores do not cause us illness. Since the spores need a low acid, low oxygen environment to "hatch" and create the toxin, fallen fruit may have the spores on it but couldn't have the toxin on it because it doesn't have an oxygen free environment for the toxin to develop.
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Simmering does not kill the spores, boiling does not kill the spores, that is why low acid foods must be pressure canned to be safe. To kill the spores the temperature must be brought to 240 degrees and home pressure canning accomplishes that.

Boiling the food is after the jar has been opened. Boiling for 10 minutes will kill any toxin present. It is the final step in food safety with home canning.

Any food that modern canning methods (not grandma always did it that way) says can be water bath canned, is high enough in acid, either naturally or because it is recommended to add lemon juice or citric acid, to prevent the necessary environment for botulism to develop the toxins.
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Apple Cider Vinegar is a high acid food. It comes from a high acid fruit and is then processed to concentrate that acid. Most purchased apple cider vinegar has been watered down to make it a standard acidity of 5 to 6 percent. There are some reasons to check the acidity of home made vinegar but that and it's methods are a different subject for another thread. None of those reasons include making sure it is acid enough, it involves making sure it is not too acid.

Vinegar making is a multi-step process and nothing in the making of vinegar allows any spores present in raw fruit to develop the toxins.
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Ciders, like vinegar, are again a high acid fruit product and the botulism spores do not have the environment needed to develop.

The wort in home beer brewing is high acid enough to prevent any development of botulism toxin.
----------

As far as other foodborne illnesses, if this thread proves to be of any use to the members, I do plan on developing information on other foodborne illnesses. Salmonella is next on the list if this thread proves useful to the SB members.

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To survive we need the information at hand to prevent illnesses as much as possible. Obviously, nothing is completely safe in life, that is the nature of life, but if there are simple to learn steps to increase our chances for surviving, we should learn them and take them.

That is the at the heart of survival - Learn the skills and gain the knowledge to preserve life and protect our health. Not to wrap ourselves in cotton and never try anything but to wrap ourselves in the knowledge and skills to live and thrive is the heart of survival. :)
 
#17 ·
In a survival situation, many things might be done in a method that is more dangerous than in a normal situation. It is one of the reasons to arm ourselves with the knowledge ahead of time so we are the most prepared to reduce those risks.

It is hard to believe just how small an amount of toxin it takes to cause severe illness. Without the extensive medical support available today (and we would assume it would not be available in a survival situation) the death rate from botulism is 50%. That is steep.

If you water bath low acid foods and the toxin develops, it would only take getting the toxin on your can opener or spoon and then touching something else you would eat. Get a bit on your finger and then check the saltiness of your food and you have potentially ingested enough toxin to be a major problem.

The high risk of illness in improperly processed foods is one of the reasons it is so important to follow the two step process in home canning low acid foods. The first step - pressure canning, the second step - boiling for ten minutes after opening, has been developed because research showed that one - two punch makes the food safe. This method became recommended after much investigation into methods to make home canning safe and keep people alive.

Water bath canning does not kill the spores. The low acid, oxygen deprived environment in canned vegetables and meats is a breeding ground for botulism to develop the toxins.

One of the reasons many of us work toward having a backup canner and/or parts for our canners is to reduce the risk of having to preserve food in a proven unsafe manner. An entire family could be wiped out by a jar of green beans.

Does that mean we should not home can? No, but it does mean we need to provide for safe preservation of the food. Sometimes people say it is safer to purchase commercially canned food. In a survival situation, we are not looking at running to the local supermarket and picking up a can of food. So, we need to learn the risks and methods to alleviate the risks in home canning.

Would every jar of low acid food develop botulism toxin if waterbath canned - no. Would every jar of low acid food that was waterbath canned be a risk - yes. Just like Russian roulette is not a practical form of entertainment, playing the same type game with our food supply is not practical.

I have to assume that if I am in a situation where I have the jars, flats, rings, and food to can, then I'm also going to be in a situation where the other needed supplies such as a pressure canner are available. It's not like you can whip enough supplies out of a backpack to can up a few jars of the wild asparagus you find on the side of a trail. You are in a set up environment if canning is a possibility. If the zombie hordes stole your pressure canner, your neighbor's pressure canner (for sharing, not stealing), and you are faced with three bushels of green beans, it is time for whipping out the dehydrating skills and making leatherbritches, in my opinion. :)
 
#22 ·
Thanks Mel for putting together such a well thought out and informative thread.

I think it serves not only to remind us how cautious we need to be regarding how dangerous Botulism can be, it also demonstrates how seldom this occurs and gives me more confidence in our canning processes that we will be safe.

It is threads like this that I find make Survival Board the great source for self-sufficiency that it is. :thumb:

Be Prepared, :)
OBW
.
 
#24 ·
Thanks Mel!

As to the comment about boiling at 212 degrees vs canning at 240. My thought was that water boils at 212 but other foods boil at different temps (usually higher) don't they? Not that I've taken the temp of boiling pea soup, but I'll bet it is higher than 212 degrees. I think I'll take it's temp next time I open a jar and boil it.
 
#26 ·
There may be 15,000 different temperatures at which things boil, for the purposes of this explanation, it really doesn't matter. With the exception of elevation adjustments for high elevations, the instructions are very straightforward.

The people who had tons of lab equipment, botulinum spores and botulism toxin available determined through a lot of experimentation and testing, that the combination of processing methods and temperatures works to render food safe. It works.

Therefore, for me to make a chart of every possible food I might come in contact with and what it's particular variances could possibly be that might or might not cause me to kill my family with a toxin that should have been destroyed had I followed the instructions seems counter-productive to survival.

In waterbath canning, the temperature that the water boils is 212 degrees, not enough to kill botulinum toxin. In pressure canning, the temperature is raised to 240 degrees as a result of the action of the pressure canner. High elevations have some temperature differences in when water boils and have to use different pressure to achieve appropriate pressure when pressure canning. Those differences are addressed in modern canning manuals as needed.

Whatever PSI of pressure is required to can foods for your elevation, once it is reached it results in a 240 degree minimum environment inside the canner. That is the goal in home pressure canning. That is what kills botulinum spores.

Whatever temperature is required to bring foods to a boil and keep them that way for 10 minutes is what is required for any botulism toxin in foods to be neutralized.

There are several reasons for the different steps, as has been explained above. It takes such a very tiny bit of the toxin to cause severe illness that taking both of the steps is a small price to pay for a safe food supply.

Botulism is an extremely painful illness whose effects take up to 3 - 5 years to completely recover from, it is extremely expensive to treat in many cases, and without modern medical intervention has about a 50% death rate. It is entirely too easy to prevent by following safe food guidelines, to take chance on not following them. I look at my family and can't decide which ones should die because I was too hard-headed to follow proven instructions. It's simply not worth the risk in my opinion.
 
#30 ·
Since I'm a microbiologist, and also a home canner, I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

In regards to reheating foods to destroy toxin, thats really playing Russian roulette! Botulism toxin is lethal in nanogram quanities, so tiny that most people can't even conceptionalize amounts so small. Immagine taking a paper clip, which has a mass of about 1 gram. Divide that paperclip into 1000 little snippets. Each would be a milligram. Now divide one snippet into 1000 peices. That's a microgram, so small you might not see it without a microscope. Now divide that microscopic snippet again. That's a nanogram. That's how dangerous botulism toxin is.

I think part of the problem with people accepting the idea that you MUST use a pressure canner is the cost of the equiment. If you go on-line right now, what you might find is an entry-level canner costing in the range of 60-75$. I suppose that inital cost is enough to dissuade some.

I have to say that I now have 4 different canners, and the most I've payed for one is 15$. And that was for a very nice 23 qt Presto. The first thing you might say is that an old canner needs to checked by the county extension office, which also might entail some cost.

I'm in a position to validate the functionality of my own canners because I have access to autoclave thermometers that can record the temperatures inside the canner while it's pressurized. What I've found is that as long as you repace the gasket, every single canner I've tested stayed within specification. BTW, I only buy weighted exhaust canners, which keep the canner in a certain pressure via their weight, because the mass of the weight will never change.

So, there really is no valid reason why everybody can't have their own canner in their kitchens.

I use my canner exclusively, but it might be appropriate to mention two obsolete methods used back in the 19th century. One is salt bath canning, and the other is called Tindylization. In salt bath canning, you boil the jars submered in a saturated salt solution. The massive salt concentration raises the boiling point of water to 240F, the same as in the canner. The problem though is that the salt is so corrosive, and you're likely to have pinholes eaten through your lids simply because all the salt isn't removed.

The second obsolete method is Tindylization, which required sequencial heating at 212F over a three day period.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndallization

The stratege here is that heat is one of the factors that makes the botulism spores germinate and grow into new cells. Upon the first heating, all the vegative cells are killed, but the botulism spores are stimulated to germinate. But, the subsequent REHEATING a day later kills the newly germinated cells before they have a chance to produce new spores. The third heating just makes sure that any stragglers not killed in the first reheating get killed in the second. Any toxin produced by the newly sprouted spores gets distroyed in either the first or second reheating.

I know about these techniques because of micro 101 class, but never have attempted either because a canner is just so much more easy and straightforward. But, in a life or death starvation situation without a canner, I might want to revisit them.
 
#31 ·
MichaelK, you are right that botulism is nothing to play around with. The heating of food to a boil for 10 minutes is the second step of a two step prevention program. The first step should always be use of appropriate pressure canning methods for all low acid foods. This is what the USDA and CDC recommend after great testing to determine the sequence that renders food safe.

Low acid foods are everything but fruits and some tomatoes. Tomatoes must have acid added to them, they are not as acidic as they once were. Most people preparing fruits and fruit products for canning at home add lemon juice or citric acid as part of the canning process. That assures the acidity is high enough when added to their natural acidity for waterbath canning. Low acid foods, however, cannot have the acidity raised enough by the addition of an acid and must be pressure canned.

I did not mention salt bath canning as a canning option because, while as a scientific theory it works, in a practical kitchen application it most often results in unsealed, wasted food. It was dropped as a viable canning method in the late 40's when pressure canners became available on the open market.
 
#32 ·
#33 · (Edited by Moderator)
The four enemies of successful long term food storage are light, oxygen, moisture and heat.
No the greatest enemy of successful long term food storage is procrastination poisoning. You need to filter out all the sodium procrastinate in your local town water before even consider getting into food storage.
Otherwise you will never get around to doing it.
 
#36 ·
My first choice would be my gas indoor stove. I figure it will run longer than the electric will run. Next would be bottled gas on a turkey fryer burner. Finally I'd look into upsizing your typical brick rocket stove. Come to think about it, that seems like a nice project to attack with my mediocre masonry skills.
 
#39 ·
There will be other foodborne illnesses reported on and then a summary sticky with the link to the various ones would be appropriate possibly.

I put it in this section at this time because it affects commercially canned and home canned foods along with our general preparedness knowledge. Many members on the forum never venture into the Farming, Gardening, and Homesteading section of the forum.

I'll try to post in that section and reference this thread, perhaps that will help.
 
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