Re: [CH] Can you spell botulism?
Kristofer Blennow (kristofer@blennow.se)
Sat, 10 Jul 1999 05:02:14 +0200
Well, although many of you are tired of this subject, I feel obliged
to forward this from Professor Emeritus Kenneth Hall.
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: "Kenneth N. Hall" <khall@canr1.cag.uconn.edu>
Organization: Agriculture & Natural Resources
To: foodsafe@nal.usda.gov, kristofer@blennow.se
Date sent: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 11:00:55 -0500
Subject: Re: (Fwd) [CH] Can you spell botulism?
Send reply to: khall@canr1.cag.uconn.edu
Priority: normal
Although you have had several good replies, a further comment is
warranteed. *Past experience has indicated that some individuals that
have used unsafe food preservation methods and have not, yet, killed
a relative or friend will continue to use the unsafe food.*
My recommendation for those individuals that insist on
consuming foods with the danger or causing botulism, that they be
sure to heat that food to boiling temperature for a minimum of 10
minutes and if it is a very viscous food to boil it for 15 or 20
minutes. This will destroy the Clostridium botulinum toxin in the
event the spores germinated and produced a toxin. Boiling can be in
either a microwave oven or a conventional stove, because it is the
time at the boiling temperature that is critical and the above times
are considered to give a reasonable margin of safety.
Remember the spores are very resistant to heat, while the toxin is
relatively easy to be destroyed by heat. Hence, foods preserved by
unsafe methods can be made safe, if properly heated just prior to
use or consumption.
Kenneth N. Hall, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Nutritional Sciences
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269-4017
Email: khall@canr1.cag.uconn.edu
Voice: 1-860-486-1763