Re: [CH] RE:botulism
Charles Demas (demas@sunspot.tiac.net)
Thu, 1 Jul 1999 20:53:27 -0400 (EDT)
On Thu, 1 Jul 1999, Kit Anderson wrote:
> > There will be spores on the dried chiles, but if they are dry, the spores
> > wqon't grow. It takes something like 35% water content for there to be
> > growth.
> >
> > Botulism requires a set of conditions to allow the vegetative cells to
> > develop from the spores and then produce the toxin. No water, no growth,
> > no toxin. :-)
> >
> >
> > Chuck Demas
>
> Is not there are the risk of infection to the vegetable matter in the
> bottle if exposed to air?
> --
> Kit
More spores may be introduced, of course, but without moisture, the
spores will not develop. That is my understanding.
Now, if you're using dried spices or herbs, there won't be enough water
present for the bacteria to develop and grow.
If you were to use fresh chiles, or fresh herbs in oil, that's very
dangerous, but in those cases, you have moisture present that will allow
the bacteria to grow.
When making jellys or preserves, the high sugar content draws the water
and makes it unavailable for most bacterial growth. That won't stop
other nasties, but it's why candying fruit works, IIRC.
The whole idea behind preserving food is to either eliminate the
bacteria, or keep it from growing.
Dried foods don't spoil because there's no moisture for the bacteria to
grow with. Once it gets moistened, the bacteria can grow and cause
spoilage.
Chuck Demas
Needham, Mass.
Eat Healthy | _ _ | Nothing would be done at all,
Stay Fit | @ @ | If a man waited to do it so well,
Die Anyway | v | That no one could find fault with it.
demas@tiac.net | \___/ | http://www.tiac.net/users/demas