...when it comes to making the foods they are producing safe for consumption. Too many managers, marketing experts, accountants and financial controllers running and profiting from these ideas, but nothing being set aside for science, testing and quality control. These are dangerous times we are living in. For our enlightenment here is a link to botulism, something I learned about in high school biology back in the late 1950s and again in college sophomore microbiology, classes which were mandatory back then if you wanted to graduate from college.
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What Is Botulism?
Botulism (from Latin botulus, "sausage") is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin, botulin, that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulin is the most potent known toxin, blocking nerve function and leading to respiratory and musculoskeletal paralysis.
There are three main kinds of botulism:
Foodborne botulism is a form of foodborne illness and is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin. Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with Clostridium botulinum. Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. All forms of botulism can be fatal and are considered medical emergencies. Foodborne botulism can be especially dangerous as a public health problem because many people can be poisoned from a single contaminated food source.
In the United States an average of 110 cases of botulism are reported each year. Of these, approximately 25% are foodborne, 72% are infant botulism, and the rest are wound botulism. Outbreaks of foodborne botulism involving two or more persons occur during most years and usually are caused by eating contaminated home-canned foods. The number of cases of foodborne and infant botulism has changed little in recent years, but wound botulism has increased because of the use of black-tar heroin, especially in California.
Clostridium botulinum is a spore-forming, anaerobic bacillus which produces a toxin that causes botulism. C. botulinum was first recognized and isolated in 1896 by Van Ermengem and is commonly found in soil.
These rod-shaped organisms grow best in low oxygen conditions. The bacteria form spores which allow them to survive in a dormant state until exposed to conditions that can support their growth.
Subtypes Each of the seven subtypes of C. botulinum produce seven different botulinum toxins (one per subtype). These are labeled with letters and are called A-G types (types C and D are not human pathogens). A "mouse protection" test determines the type of C. botulinum present (monoclonal antibodies used). In the United States, outbreaks are primarily due to types A, B (which are found in soil) or E (which is found in fish).¹
¹ Optimum temperature for types A & B is 35-40° C. Minimum pH is 4.6. It takes 25 min at 100°C to kill these types. Optimum temperature for type E is 18-25°C. Minimum pH is 5.0. It takes about 0.1 minute at 100°C to kill type E C. botulinum.
Clostridium botulinum is also used to prepare Botox, used to selectively paralyze muscles to temporarily relieve wrinkles. It has other "off-label" medical purposes, such as treating headaches.
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http://www.bionewsonline.com/z/what_is_botulism.htmI also recall my wife heating the glass baby food jars on the stove in boiling water with the caps loosened then waiting for about twenty minutes for the jars to cool before feeding our children. Now the instructions say feed direct from jar and the jars are made of plastic.
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