In a message dated 7/99 12:06:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, hummer13@earthlink.net writes: << botulism is present in a canned food if the lid puffs up >> Not an Old Wives Tale, but not an exhaustive test either. Even if you avoid "puffy cans" there are perfectly normal looking ones with botulism too. In science, categorized as mutually exclusive (if puffed, not good), but not exhaustive (if not puffed, still may not be good). Gareth