I've been on the pickle train for the last couple of weeks. Beautiful crop of cukes around here. I do dills and bread/butter pickles. Plus, I've put up 15 pounds of figs so far. Everything is very acidic. I do love my B&B pickles! Threw away the last jar of a commercial canner because they were so mushy. That's a great source, Lonnie mac!
I LOVE my B&B pickles. Have a garden just down the road. I usually load up on cucumbers and tomatoes to can. Could not find the time this year so I am out!
The point was not to intentionally scare anybody... if this thread can inform and educate anyone else that finds themselves in a similar situation (common sense vs. learned and confirmed habit), than i think it's served it's purpose. I like to stir the pot, literally and figuratively.
the exerpt below is from a CDC report on botulism in the US for calendar year 2015. A couple of takeaways from this:
-I personnaly steer clear of church pot luck potato salad unless i make and serve it myself.
-If you are a fan of seal fin, please prepare it properly.
-and for god sakes, sterlize those baby bottles!
Summary of Botulism Cases Reported in 2015 A total of 199 confirmed and 14 probable cases of botulism were reported to CDC in 2015. Among confirmed cases, infant botulism accounted for 141 (71%) cases, foodborne botulism for 39 (20%) cases, wound botulism for 15 (8%) cases, and botulism of unknown or other transmission category for 4 (2%) cases (Table 1). Among probable cases, foodborne botulism accounted for 6 (43%) cases and wound botulism for 8 (57%) cases.
The 141 cases of infant botulism were reported from 33 states and the District of Columbia. The median age of patients was 2.7 months with a range of 0 – 10 months; 70 (50%) were girls. Toxin type A accounted for 60 (43%), toxin type B accounted for 79 (56%), and toxin type Bf accounted for 2 (1%). No deaths were reported.
The 39 cases of confirmed foodborne botulism were reported from 7 states (Figure 1). The median age of patients was 59 years with a range of 9 – 92 years; 25 (64%) were women. There were 5 outbreaks (events with two or more cases) accounting for 37 confirmed cases. One outbreak was associated with home-canned potatoes in a potato salad served at a church potluck (27 cases),†one was associated with fermented seal flipper (4 cases), and one was associated with beets roasted in aluminum foil and kept at room temperature for several days then made into a soup (2 cases). In addition, there were two outbreaks of two cases each living in the same household or facility in which the foodborne source was unknown (Table 2a). Toxin type A accounted for 34 (87%), and toxin type E accounted for 5 (13%). One death was reported.
The 6 cases of probable foodborne botulism (clinically compatible illness, not laboratory-confirmed, with an epidemiologic link to a suspect food) were reported from 3 states. The median age of patients was 53 years with a range of 23 – 73 years; 3 (50%) were women. No deaths were reported. Seal oil was the suspected food source for 2 of the 6 probable cases (Table 2b)
DON'T! MESS! WITH! BOTULISM! My brother was put in a coma by botulism from improperly canned food, and passed away. If you don't have the ablity to do it right, best leave it to the professionals.
My sincere condolences Gooner and i apologize if i've offended. My intent was to use this unique situation to heighten awareness of the potential problems with "doing what we've always done". I meant no disrespect to you are anyone else that have suffered greviously.
It was a sad event 20 years a go and we all still miss him to this day. I take ZERO offence at all! I agree with your method of raising awareness of the dangers. I was just adding to your point with a personal perspective.
What they said- a deadly outcome, though infrequent enough that people become complacent and underestimate the risks. Bot toxin is HIGHLY poisonous, a drop will kill you. People sometimes cook canned food hot enough to destroy the toxin and think they are safe. But a few drips of sauce splashed high on the spoon you used to stir the pot, may have remained cool. When you serve the food this toxin can mix in, and is deadly.
Willy Water activity link below. Log12 reduction is required with FSIS and thermally processed foods that meet those criteria I mentioned. Log12 in a nutshell; if you had 1 billion cans of product and each had one botulism spore, after a Log12 procedure on all 1 billion cans, in theory only one can would have a surviving spore.
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