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Botulism

R

rory

I was just wondering if there exists an informative thread here regarding Botulism.
My knowledge of it is limited to say the least. I only heard about it a few weeks ago, and it SCARES the bejeesus outta me!!

Does it only concern hot sauces or any method of conserving/preserving peppers?

Thank you.
 
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In few words: "Improperly preserved food is the most common cause of food-borne botulism. Foodborne botulism results from contaminated food in which C. botulinum spores have been allowed to germinate in low-oxygen conditions. This typically occurs in home-canned food substances and fermented uncooked dishes."  (wikipedia)
 
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Rory,
 
RGHM pretty much summed it up.  Botulism (and other foodborne pathogens and bacteria) comes from improperly processed foods.  There is nothing to be afraid of so long as the rules are followed for proper sanitation and process methods. I think of it two ways sanitation, and PH. Those two are your driving factors that contribute to the overall process. I wont go into sanitation but you can check the links provided below for additional info on that. Final PH of product will determine how your will process, 4.5-4.6 is considered to be "shelf stable" but for an added layer of protection on hot sauces, I agree with SL and would recommend that you shoot for more of a 4.0-4.2 range. Then its up to how your process your product i.e. pressure canning, boiling water bath (BWB), and hot fill/hold. Pressure canning for products with PH above 4.5, BWB or hot fill/hold for products below 4.5. Although I do omit BWB for peppers because experiance has shown that everytime I did a BWB it made the peppers very mushy.  Take a look here and it should put your mind at ease. Good Luck and have fun!!
 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/29501-making-hot-sauce-101/
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/46468-canning-peppers-without-a-waterbath/
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/general.html
 
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Great addition BB.  I imagine RM and/or SL will stop by with info as well.  
 
Bottom line:  Use of good sanitation and proper process methods will help you eliminate food borne pathogens.  
 
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Rory, never a concern when drying fresh semi/ripened peppers....nor when following the guidelines on processing sauces and salsa's.
 
 
Fermenting chunky ingredients over  a long period of time might be questionable. Can't smell, taste or see (without the right equip)..Botulism. 
 
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Thanks everyone for your input. Thats really helpful, and I know that there s wikipedia these days but I always find it better to ask around first.
For me, fermenting is a little further down the road, I would not have the skill or knowledge to even attempt something like that. For the moment I ll just buy hot sauce from the "experts" :)
 
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One other thing that SL pointed out in another thread, while it is possible to kill the toxin with a BWB, only pressure canning with a pressure canning pot that will build up to the correct temperature will kill the spores. Not all pressure canning systems can do this. Some allow you to use different weights to build more or less pressure but you need to be completely certain of your method before trustin it. Botulism is nothing to play with and I'll dump a 5 gallon bucket of mash in a heartbeat if it's suspect to me.
 
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PIC 1 said:
Rory, never a concern when drying fresh semi/ripened peppers....nor when following the guidelines on processing sauces and salsa's.
 
 
Fermenting chunky ingredients over  a long period of time might be questionable. Can't smell, taste or see (without the right equip)..Botulism. 
Click to expand...
 
 
Crap....scaring me with my first time ferments!!!! :(
 
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Crap....scaring me with my first time ferments!!!! :(

Nah you ll be ok.
Just ask around if your unsure, plently of friendly experienced people here willing to share their knowledge.
Best of luck with your ferments, what are you fermenting?
 
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145 cases of botulism reported in the US per year.

Out of that 8% is from foodborne causes. That is 9 people out of 313.9 million people.
Someone work out the % chance of dying from botulism for me?

I assume one would have a better chance of dying from choking on a marshmellow!
 
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145 cases of botulism reported in the US per year.

Out of that 8% is from foodborne causes. That is 9 people out of 313.9 million people.
Someone work out the % chance of dying from botulism for me?

I assume one would have a better chance of dying from choking on a marshmellow!

Well I would need to know the facts before I could even attempt such a calculation. Such as how many die per year as a result of botulism?
And then after that I would like to know how many are avoidable deaths.

Someone once told me 99.4% of facts are made up.
But who knows
 
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Well here is a nice pdf outlining the facts as per 2010 with no reported deaths at all :) http://www.cdc.gov/nationalsurveillance/PDFs/Botulism_CSTE_2010.pdf
 
 
 
"The 9 cases of foodborne intoxication were reported from five states (Table 2). Of these, toxin type A accounted for 3 (33%), toxin type B for 3 (33%), and toxin type E for 2 (22%); the toxin type was unknown for 1 (11%). The median age of patients was 47 years, with a range of 36–77 years; 5 (56%) were male. No deaths were reported. There were two outbreaks (events with two or more cases). One was caused by seal blubber (associated with two cases in Alaska) and the other by an unknown food vehicle (associated with two cases in Alaska)"
 
So, in 2010 if one were an American citizen living in the US you had a 0% chance of dying from foodborne Botulism.
 
:cheers:
 
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rory said:
Nah you ll be ok.
Just ask around if your unsure, plently of friendly experienced people here willing to share their knowledge.
Best of luck with your ferments, what are you fermenting?
Click to expand...
 
doing a chocolate cayenne, 7 pot burg, and MoA Bonnets.
 
Nova said:
145 cases of botulism reported in the US per year.

Out of that 8% is from foodborne causes. That is 9 people out of 313.9 million people.
Someone work out the % chance of dying from botulism for me?

I assume one would have a better chance of dying from choking on a marshmellow!
Click to expand...
 
But 313.9 million people don't can their own stuff.  Crab fishing is extremely dangerous, but I feel quite safe here in Indiana.
 
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What would be your guess as to the percentage of the population that does utilise canning as a way of food preservation? 5-10% maybe?
 
I am finding it difficult to get any number via google foo.
 
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HillBilly Jeff said:
 
 
 
 
But 313.9 million people don't can their own stuff.  Crab fishing is extremely dangerous, but I feel quite safe here in Indiana.
Click to expand...
 
 
Just a thought Jeff. I've been thinking back as far as my feeble mind will go trying to remember the last news article I saw concerning someone getting botulism from home canning. I can't remember ever hearing about any cases.
 
Big processing plants, yes. At least once a year there is a huge recall of some food because of botulism concerns.

Nova said:
What would be your guess as to the percentage of the population that does utilise canning as a way of food preservation? 5-10% maybe?
 
I am finding it difficult to get any number via google foo.
Click to expand...
 
 
Probably just us, the farmers and the preppers in this day and age. I can't believe there are many that go to the effort.
 
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