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botulism case confirmed i

10 years ago

In WA. state there is a confirmed case of botulism due to improperly canned elk.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning nearly fatal

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Comments (14)

2ajsmama
10 years ago
He's lucky he's not dead or blind. What would have happened if his DD hadn't called a neurosurgeon? Hope he continues to recover.

BTW, did anybody see the recipe for "pickled corn" in August Bon Appetit? I sent them an email this morning. No reply yet.

Edited to change "had called" to "hadn't called"

This post was edited by ajsmama on Thu, Jul 25, 13 at 12:13
myfamilysfarm
10 years ago
That's why I was so afraid of canning meat for years.
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How much of a safety factor is built into the recommended processing times? The times provided in various modern canning books tend to be very sweeping in some ways yet specific in others. For example, vegetable pressure-canner processing times range from asparagus (25min) to whole kernel corn (55 min). Yet dried beans processing times don't very except for container size. If I understand correctly, the goal is to get the internal temperature of the item to 240deg (achieved by venting your canner completely and bringing the pressure to 10psi @STP) I've read on some websites that only 4 minutes at the 240deg temperature is required to kill the spores. I suspect then that the different cooking times reflect the ability of the food item to internally transfer heat throughout the entire container (I understand this is largely due to density, plant chemistry, and the cell structure). So if my understanding is accurate, there should be different cooking times for dried beans based on: 1. bean density/moisture content. 2. size of the bean. 3. type of bean. Yes, it is much safer to make a generic recommendation and err on the side of safety. This said, unnecessary processing reduces the quality of the product. So I undertook an experiment: Last week, I processed a full canner load (18 * pint/500ml jars) of red kidney, turtle, and garbanzo beans. I vented vigourously for 10 minutes, and processed for 75 minutes at 11-13pounds. Tasting the beans the next day, I found them all to be way too soft. As well, the intergrity of each bean suffered (splitting, disintergrating, colour change). Today I did another load of the same beans but processed them for 60 minutes instead of the recommended 75min. The results: 1. The turtle beans texture and appearance in the jar was very close to commercially canned beans. And they tasted just the same. 2. Red kidney beans were softer than commercial products but looked the same. 3. Garbanzo beans were a wee bit harder compared to commercially canned beans but similar in firmness to non-canned samples. Appearance wise they were similar to the commercial products. Each of the beans exhibited different results from processing. These leads me to think that USDA should develop bean-specific processing times. Does anyone know what commercial canners do? And how much extra processing time is required to go say from a safety confidence level of 99.99% to 99.9999%
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Greetings, Linda Lou said: Jimster, Perhaps you misread what I posted or misunderstood me. I am confused. I did say in the sentence before that pressure canning green beans to be a perfectly safe method if done for the current, safe time and pressure. That is the only method I have ever used, the pressure canner. I would, of course, never,ever, suggest someone should can them in any other way, other than pickled in a brine that is acidic enough. While it is 'Jimsters' responsibility to respond, I believe I understand the misconception here. I don't think he was criticizing your technique, rather the phrasing you used (paraphrased) "I have always canned..." is the issue. It sounds a lot like "Grandma always did it this way". Having read the numerous posts you have written, I have no doubt that you can safely but the "I've been doing this for 35 years" strikes too close to the "Grandma always did this" mentality. For myself, I understand both your "statements" and Jimsters "position"... And that's about all the oil this barrel can pour on troubled waters. ;) For the future, I have a Botulism 101 Q&A (Q&A as in "I don't know the answer so I'm kicking it out to the group") post that I'm mentally working up. Maybe I'll get it refined enough to actually post sometime this year... Maybe not. Regards, Tim :)
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kriswrite
10 years ago
Meat is actually one of the safest things to can - although wild meat, if not properly field dressed and kept cool - is more likely to have baddies in it. But if you follow the proper canning procedures, there is no reason to be fearful.

This guy didn't use a pressure canner, but a pressure cooker...a huge no-no. And he used an "old family recipe" for canning. Another huge mistake. And THEN he tried to shorten the processing time. YIKES!
Christina818
10 years ago
Scary stuff!
myfamilysfarm
10 years ago
So many wrongs
laceyvail 6A, WV
10 years ago
I also saw the recipe in Bon Appetit. Very dangerous.
chervil2
10 years ago
Freezing meat is by far my preference for food preservation.
myfamilysfarm
10 years ago
The only reason that I canned meat at all is that we were living off-grid and a freezer takes lots of electricity.
Linda_Lou
Original Author
10 years ago
I haven't seen that recipe in Bon Appetit. Glad some of you have contacted them about it.
2ajsmama
10 years ago
Still haven't heard back from editor.
readinglady
10 years ago
Am I missing something? I'm reading the pickled corn as a refrigerator recipe with a one-month life. I don't see anything wrong with that. (Though I do think their wording could be more explicit.)

Carol
morz8 - Washington Coast
10 years ago
I didn't look up the corn recipe in question, but I feel so badly for the man and his family in Olympia with the botulism when it could have been so easily avoided. I'm having trouble understanding how a man with that much education could treat food so disrespectfully to be canning from memory and with wrong equipment. I hope he recovers fully, that must have been a nightmare for his wife, daughter.
2ajsmama
10 years ago
Carol - it was confusing b/c the recipe said " Seal jar. Let cool; chill. Will keep up to 1 month." (that's from website, I could have sworn the magazine said "1 month unopened"). So looked like maybe it was open kettle canning? It sure wasn't clear to me it was to be kept refrigerated. Not to mention (as I pointed out to editor) that "sealing" the jar by screwing on a lid (1 or 2 piece) with a silicone sealant would cause a weak vacuum to be pulled as the jar cooled, and botulism toxin could form even in the fridge, b/c I wasn't sure about the 50:50 acid/water ratio in this recipe (NCHFP and Ball recipes are higher acid), and certainly topping off with water if necessary wasn't going to help!

I suggested that they vet any future "canning" recipes through food safety expert. Still haven't heard back.

Got the farmer's market newsletter for market going on tonight, someone who "grew up canning with her mother and grandmother" is going to be doing a "mock" demo and handing out recipes "to preserve all the fresh fruits and vegetables available now". I suggested that the market manager check the recipes to see that they were from NCHFP, Ball, or university extension(s), and perhaps limit the demo (and info, if possible) to fruits to limit the town's liability.

They said it's market day and it's a bit crazy, don't know if they can get to it. I emailed them a link to the elk story, said the same could happen with corn, squash, beans so this literally could be a matter of life and death, they don't want to be handing out potentially dangerous information on canning vegetables. Haven't heard from them either.

I wish the state would regulate who can teach canning (at least lo-acid canning) like they regulate (require training and testing) acidified foods (and you have to have a commercial kitchen to sell pressure-canned foods).
readinglady
10 years ago
I didn't see the "topping off with water" comment and certainly agree that would be a bad idea. For myself I'd probably use Jan Roberts-Dominguez proportion of acid to water from her corn relish - 4:1.5, which eliminates risk.

I think the biggest problem with that corn relish (assuming additional water were not added) is with leaving it in the fridge beyond the 1-month recommended life as the B, E and F strains are very slow-growing.

But given the additional issues and the significant numbers of Bon Appetit readers with no awareness of the potential for risk, I withdraw my original comment.

On the original story about the gentleman, I am not at all surprised at his misguided approach. I have heard a lot of similar stories, including from my elderly male neighbor, whose approach to canning is totally cavalier.

You have a subset of people who "don't know that they don't know" and are totally unable to assess risk coupled with the absolute faith people have in previous experience and the wisdom of "mom." (Though in this case he failed to allow for the fact that his memories of what mom did are probably totally faulty.)

Carol

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