[CH] Botulinum Toxin

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Back in the dark ages of my career, I worked in epidemiology and such.  It
was then accepted as fact that botulinum toxin is not thermo-stable.  If you
get it hot it breaks down and is harmless.  This has saved a lot of people
from poisoning in the days of improper preservation.  The mere touching of a
finger-tip to the liquid of a contaminated food to taste it can contain
enough toxin to be fatal, so ???'s 'When in doubt, throw it out' is very
good advice.  The other and far more common bacterial food poisoning
(Salmonella FP is actually an infection) is from the toxin of Staphylococcus
Aureous.  It commonly forms in foods that are left too long at room temp,
like Easter or Christmas fixin's.  This toxin .is. heat stable and will not
be affected by further cooking.  Disclaimer: It has been quite a few years
since I was current in the field, but I doubt that this has changed.  Jim
Campbell the Other

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