[CH] botulism.....again

Kit Anderson (kitridge@bigfoot.com)
Tue, 17 Nov 1998 16:06:36 -0800

James King wrote;
> We love hot peppers on popcorn!
> 
> I take a bottle of olive oil and stuff it full of split peppers of choice
> and a crushed garlic clove.  Let it age a while. Gad, this stuff's good.  I
> buy so much popcorn from the Boy Scout troops now they deliver it to me in
> cases.

Your recipe is for botulism. You might want to consider heating up the
oil with the garlic and peppers to 275F. Remove veggies before storing.
Or use a preservative like potassium sorbate. Remember, the incidence is
low but the mortality is high.

>From the UDSA:
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap2.html


"In the last 10 years, two separate outbreaks of botulism have
occurred involving commercially canned salmon. Restaurant
foods such as sauteed onions, chopped bottled garlic, potato
salad made from baked potatoes and baked potatoes
themselves have been responsible for a number of outbreaks.
Also, smoked fish, both hot and cold-smoke (e.g., Kapchunka)
have caused outbreaks of type E botulism. "

"Most recently, a bottled chopped garlic-in-oil mix was
responsible for three cases of botulism in Kingston, N.Y. Two
men and a woman were hospitalized with botulism after
consuming a chopped garlic-in-oil mix that had been used in a
spread for garlic bread. The bottled chopped garlic relied
solely on refrigeration to ensure safety and did not contain any
additional antibotulinal additives or barriers. The FDA has
ordered companies to stop making the product and to
withdraw from the market any garlic-in-oil mix which does not
include microbial inhibitors or acidifying agents and does not
require refrigeration for safety." 


-- 
St. Kit