Amish Wedding Foods Inc. of Millersburg, Ohio, is recalling all lots of 9- 16- and 18-ounce pumpkin butter, as well as all lots of 16- and 18-ounce sweet potato butter. The items are recalled because of concerns over possible botulism contamination. No illness has been reported. The pumpkin and sweet potato butters were sold under a variety of brands and were available in most states
Botulism is a form of food poisoning caused by eating contaminated food containing a toxin that severely affects the nervous system. It can be very serious, although not contagious. There are two other types, wound botulism and infant botulism. These affect the central nervous system and the muscular system.
Causes of Botulism
Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria found in contaminated or incompletely cooked,
canned foods, is the cause of Botulism. This bacteria produces a powerful poison (toxin) that is absorbed from the digestive tract and spreads throughout the central nervous system. Likely foods to cause botulism include: home-canned vegetables and fruits, fish, meat, undercooked sausage, smoked meats and milk products. With infants under 1 year, raw honey or other uncooked foods may be the cause. The bacteria also may infect a wound and produce the toxin.
Signs and Symptoms of Botulism
Symptoms of Botulism usually appear suddenly 18 to 36 hours after eating contaminated food. They include blurred or double vision, drooping eyelids, dry mouth, slurred speech, swallowing difficulty, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness of the arms and legs. As the condition progresses, paralysis may develop. There is not direct effect on mental abilities and there is no fever associated with Botulism. Symptoms appearing in infants include severe constipation, feeble cry, and the inability to suck.
U.K. researchers linked a protein to the development of mad-cow disease and found a way to reduce it, a discovery that may lead to a treatment for the illness and its human form, according to a report today in PLoS Pathogens.
A team of scientists at the University of Leeds found that the protein, called Glypican-1, boosts abnormal and infectious proteins in the brain called prions, which are known to cause mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. When the researchers reduced Glypican-1 in infected mouse cells, abnormal prion levels also declined, they wrote in the online journal.
Glypican-1 may act as a scaffold that brings together the two forms of the prion protein, causing normal prions to mutate into infectious ones, Nigel Hooper, one of the authors, said in a telephone interview.
“It’s bringing the normal prion protein and the infectious molecule together and allowing them to interact,” said Hooper, a professor of biochemistry at the university in northern England. “The infectious molecule will then allow the normal one to convert, setting up a cascade.”
In the mid-1990s, scientists found a possible link between bovine spongiform encephalopathy and a variant of the fatal human illness, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which destroys brain tissue. An estimated 166 people in the U.K. may have died from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob since 1995, according to the National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh.
Infected Animals
People are believed to develop the disease by eating meat from infected animals or after transfusions of infected blood. Early symptoms include depression or psychosis, unsteadiness and involuntary movements. By the time of death, patients become immobile and mute.
Researchers may be able to use the Leeds team’s finding about Glypican-1 to design drugs that disrupt the disease process and treat mad-cow disease or variant CJD, Hooper said. He said his team next plans to study the effect of removing Glypican-1 from mice.
“We’re going into animal models to look at what happens if you take the Glypican-1 out,” Hooper said.
The Wellcome Trust and the U.K.’s Medical Research Council funded the research published today.
Bay Valley Foods, LLC, just recalled chunky steak soup sold under the Stater Bros. brand name; the reason given, as can be seen in the USDA-FSIS recall notice, is the company's concern that the product was "underprocessed" during production. Bay Valley should be commended for taking the necessary unilateral step of recalling its "underprocessed" product; but it's important for consumers to know that the real concern with low-acid, thermally processed foods like this soup being "underprocessed" is botulism.
Botulism is a nasty bug. It produces a potent neuro-toxin that causes paralysis. It has produced some of the most gruesome illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths of all clients at Marler Clark.
But botulism (i.e. the bacteria from which the toxins are produced) is also extremely prevalent in the environment. It is a naturally occuring bacteria in the earth; in fact, if you were to go outside and pick up a handful of dirt from your backyard garden, you'd likely be picking up a bunch of botulism spores as well. These are not harmful unless they are allowed to incubate at the right temperature for the right period of time, but they are there nonetheless.
To bring me back to the point with respect to the Stater Bros soup recall, the real risk here is that botulism spores in the low-acid, hermetically sealed soup containers might germinate and begin to produce the harmful botulism toxins. The soup contains lots of vegetables, and lots of the vegetables probably came from dirt that contained lots of botulism spores.
Thus, Bay Valley Foods/Stater brothers, should be commended for recalling the potentially contaminated (or "underprocessed") soup. But it is equally important for consumers of this product to know the risks they face. It's not that your beef might be a little undercooked, or the carrots a little hard. It's botulism.
Bay Valley Foods, LLC, a Pittsburgh, Pa., establishment is recalling approximately 6,490 pounds of a chunky grilled steak with vegetables canned soup product due to possible underprocessing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The following product is subject to recall: [View Label]
The canned soup products were produced on November 10, 2008 and were distributed to retail establishments in California. If available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/
FSIS_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp
Fortunately for us humans, animals have suffered the most this summer from the botulism bacteria. Botulism, which produces a potent neurotoxin that causes paralysis and, frequently, death, is a health scourge to all, but appears to have killed an inordinate number of marine mammals and fish this summer. Among the grisly stories produced by a quick google search are an unfortunate fresh-water sturgeon and lots of equally unfortunate ducks and geese.
Lest we be lulled into a false sense of security, however, botulism is every bit as prevalent in our human environments as it ever was, and it remains a virtually unparalleled threat to public health--at least as judged by the devastating, brutal nature of the illnesses that it causes. We have represented victims of many major botulism outbreaks, including the Castleberry Chili sauce outbreak, and the Bolthouse Farms carrot juice outbreak, and the horrific nature of the illnesses that these people suffered is testament to the signficant threat that botulism is, and remains.
Here's a botulism primer:
Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Clostridium botulinum is the name of a group of bacteria commonly found in soil. It is an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming rod that produces a potent neurotoxin. These rod-shaped organisms are intolerant of oxygen. The bacteria form spores, which allow them to survive in a dormant state until exposed to conditions that can support their growth. The organism and its spores are widely distributed in nature. They occur in both cultivated and forest soils, bottom sediments of streams, lakes, and coastal waters, in the intestinal tracts of fish and mammals, and in the gills and viscera of crabs and other shellfish.
Four types of botulism are recognized: foodborne, infant, wound, and a form of botulism whose classification is as yet undetermined. Foodborne botulism is the name of the disease (actually a foodborne intoxication) caused by the consumption of foods containing the neurotoxin produced by C. botulinum.
In the United States an average of 110 cases of botulism are reported each year. Of these, approximately 25% are foodborne, 72% are infant botulism, and the rest are wound botulism. Outbreaks of foodborne botulism involving two or more persons occur most years and are usually caused by eating contaminated home-canned foods. The number of cases of foodborne and infant botulism has changed little in recent years, but wound botulism has increased because of the use of black-tar heroin, especially in California.
Foodborne botulism (as distinct from wound botulism and infant botulism) is a severe type of food poisoning caused by the ingestion of foods containing the potent neurotoxin formed during growth of the organism. The toxin is heat labile and can be destroyed if heated at 80°C for 10 minutes or longer. The incidence of the disease is low, but the disease is of considerable concern because of its high mortality rate if not treated immediately and properly. Most of the 10 to 30 outbreaks that are reported annually in the United States are associated with inadequately processed, home-canned foods, but occasionally commercially produced foods have been involved in outbreaks. Sausages, meat products, canned vegetables and seafood products have been the most frequent vehicles for human botulism.
Since fatal poisoning by botulism is possible from home canning, we often pass on the advice of experts on how to safety preserve those homegrown fruits and vegetables.
Sometimes the home canning experts tell consumers what to do, but do not explain why. That’s why we like the approach taken by Kathleen Riggs, who is the Utah State University Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Agent for the Bee Hive State’s Iron County.
Take her advice on canned quick breads, for example. She says:
Although no cases of botulism have been identified as being caused specifically by a home canned quick bread, the potential is there. The product meets all the criteria for the organism to grow.
Fact: The organism C. botulinum itself is harmless; however, when conditions are right, it can form an extremely potent toxin. Three factors determine if C. botulinum will grow or not: a nonacid pH, adequate moisture and an airless environment. Canned breads meet all these requirements.
Normally these products are not being held under vacuum and therefore botulism is not a concern. However, sealing the bread in a jar provides he necessary airless condition.
Ms. Riggs writes about other “common practices that are not safe” for eggs in the shell, canned butter, canned wheat, and canning dried beans. We found her column in The Spectrum in George, Utah. More of her work can be found at Utah State University.
We wrote in May about the new, faster tests that are in the works for detecting botulism. Sandy Miller Hays of the Agricultural Research Service picks up this subject in today's Everybody's Science. She writes:
Although cases of foodborne botulism are rare in the United States these days, they do still occur. Botulinum toxin occurs in seven different forms, known as serotypes A through G, although serotypes A and B are the culprits in about 90 percent of the foodborne botulism cases in the United States. (Botulism is the reason why your mother warned you to never, ever eat food from a can that’s dented, swollen or–heaven forbid–leaking.)
Botulinum is a protein that acts like a neurotoxin, interfering with the neurological system that otherwise transmits vital signals throughout your body. In particular, it can cut off normal messaging to muscles, causing paralysis. Worst-case scenario: The toxin paralyzes the muscles of your diaphragm and you die of suffocation.
Unfortunately, there is no federally approved vaccine against botulinum. An injection of horse antiserum can help remove the toxin from your bloodstream, but that treatment can cause serious side effects.
Its worth going to her site and reading the rest.
We are very fortunate that while botulism is deadly it is also rare.
Today’s issue of Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) published by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) carries an article that dissects all the food-borne disease outbreaks that occurred in 2006.
In “Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks --- United States, 2006;” CDC looks at all 1,270 Food-borne Disease Outbreak (FBDOs) that were reported during that year, resulting in 27,634 confirmed illnesses and 11 deaths.
Only one of the 11 deaths was from Clostridium botulinum or botulism. That fatality was attributed to the C. botulinum toxin being transmitted by carrot juice.
Writing on his personal blog last December, Seattle food safety attorney Bill Marler told us what happened:
"For those that do not recall, in September 2006, three people living in Georgia developed food-borne botulism that was eventually traced to commercial carrot juice from a single bottle. Soon thereafter an additional case in Florida and two in Ontario, Canada surfaced. One of the 6 botulism patients died 90 days after illness onset. One year later, two others were still on ventilators. The remaining three were taken off ventilator support after 54, 90, and 129 days. Two survivors were at home, two were in rehabilitation facilities, and one was still hospitalized. All the patients had consumed carrot juice from the same manufacturer.
"Now, here is the interesting part, according to Dr. Anandi N. Sheth at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia and colleagues, an investigation eventually determined that inadequate refrigeration probably led to botulinum toxin production. As the investigators pointed out, the pasteurized carrot juice had no protection against the bacterium Clostridium botulinum other than refrigeration. "This investigation demonstrates that carrot juice and other processed foods with no natural barriers to C. botulinum germination require additional chemical or thermal barriers," the investigators wrote in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Accordingly, they report, "In June 2007, the FDA modified its guidance for refrigerated low-acid juices to recommend adding a validated juice-treatment method, such as acidification or appropriate thermal treatment, to decrease the risk of C. botulinum contamination, should any breaches in refrigeration occur."
Its comforting to know FDA may have addressed the problem and implemented the fix for the 2006 carrot juice outbreak. However, it also shows that botulism from food products remains a concern.
The deaths in April of a dozen horses on one pasture in Natrona County, WY were due to botulism. Over last weekend, KCWY-13, Wyoming's NBC affiliate reported that:
Dr. George Marble says 3 horses were already dead on April 10th and when he went to the ranch he found two more that weren't able to walk. Within two days, all twelve the of the rancher's horses were dead or euthanized. Almost all the horses suffered paralysis of the legs and tongue which are both classic signs of botulism. The vet says no other pastures were affected by the toxin.
The veterinarian told KCWY-13, "the animals that were upstream so to speak from this particular pasture cause there was a little creek that ran through and those downstream from those horses and those that bordered on a fence line are all unaffected."
An equine health site associated with Horse Magazine says: "Horses usually become infected with botulism by ingesting the neurotoxin produced by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum in contaminated feed or water. Feed contamination can occur when the decomposing carcass of a rodent or bird is baled in hay. This is seen more often in round bales. Feed can also be contaminated through improper storage or poor fermentation. Rarely, horses can get botulism when C. botulinum from the soil gets into an open wound."
KCWY-13 said it is extremely important for ranchers to check the hay before feeding, especially in the summer.
“You know, it’s funny,” Vice President Joe Biden said. “Madame Speaker probably doesn’t want this publicized, but she has a secret BOTOX room inside the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. This way, in the event of a catastrophic shortage, she can still look like a 25-year old in an 85-year old’s body.”
The Veep also said the facility keeping Speaker Nancy Pelosi's stock of botox was given a nick-name by Congress: Fort Botulism.
We know a lot of stuff on the internet isn't true, but wanted you to know how the name "Fort Botulism" became associated with the Golden Gate Bridge. It is true, however, that the Vice President today spoke to 1,046 graduating cadets at the United States Air Force Academy.
The rare, but deadly botulinum toxin is millions of times more poisonous than cyanide. As dangerous as it is, the test for detecting botulinum toxin--an assay requiring the participation of laboratory mice, is neither quick nor easy. It takes from four to eight days, is not portable, nor very affordable.
A new, improved test for detecting what's known as "serotype A" of the toxin has now been developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) biologist Larry H. Stanker and colleagues at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif.
The new test relies on laboratory built molecules known as monoclonal antibodies, which can bind to the toxin. Assisting the work are biologist Luisa W. Cheng and research associate Miles C. Scotcher.
The botulinum toxin that causes botulism occurs in seven different serotypes--A through G. A and B are culprits in most of the foodborne botulism cases in this country, according to Stanker. The research team now expects to complete assays for detecting serotypes B and E sometime this year.
Safeguard Biosystems, Inc., of San Diego, CA., is packaging two of the serotype A antibodies into a dipstick-style test kit that looks and operates much like a home pregnancy test. The botulinum kit is intended for testing liquids, such as beverages, or clinical specimens, such as blood or urine.
That should be much quicker than waiting around for those lab mice.
ARS, a unit of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has much more about this in its May/June magazine here.
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reminded Canadians of the importance of food safety while home canning or home bottling fish and other seafood. And they left no doubt about to whom their message was directed. The government said:
"Home canning and bottling of fish and other seafood is a popular activity for Canadians, especially in Atlantic Canada. However, improper preparation, canning or storage of these foods can cause serious illness, such as botulism."
Ottawa went on with this advice:
If you are home canning or bottling your own low-acid foods (including clams, lobster and whelks), the following steps will help to reduce the risk of contamination or the presence of C. botulinum:
- Use a pressure canner and strictly follow the manufacturer's instructions for canning or bottling foods considered to be low-acid, such as fish and other shellfish.
- Clean and sanitize your hands, all work surfaces, food, utensils, and equipment and keep them clean during all stages of the canning process.
- Do not substitute ingredients, amounts or the jar size that is in the recipe because this can cause the time or pressure needed during pressure canning to change. This can lead to bacteria remaining in the food. Use the final product within one year.
- Once the container has been opened, refrigerate leftovers immediately.
- If you are buying home canned products, ask the vendor if they have followed proper safety steps.
Always remember, never eat canned foods if you suspect the item has been tampered with, if the closure/seal has been broken, or if the container is swollen or leaking. If in doubt, throw it out!
The entire statement designed to prevent botulism can be found here.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that pressure canner dial gauges be tested annually to be sure they are functioning properly.
Consumers who do home canning are advised to check with their state or county Extension Service to see if where tests can be conducted. Some local Extension Services offer the tests for free.
Pressure canners must be used to home can any low acid food including meats and poultry, vegetables and seafood.
You are in danger of botulism poisoning if using a pressure canner with a dial gauge that’s not reading accurately.
Only the pressure canner lid and dial gauge needs to be tested.
On July 7, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) learned that two siblings in Texas were critically ill with botulism and that their illnesses were likely acquired by eating contaminated food. Four days later on July 11, public health officials in Indiana reported to the CDC that a married couple in Indiana were suspected of having foodborne botulism. On July 17, CDC staff provided information regarding the production-dates and times to the FDA. The evidence strongly suggested that brands of Castleberry’s hot dog chili sauce were the common source of the four ill persons with botulism. By August 24, eight cases of botulism had been reported to the CDC. In addition to the Indiana couple, the mother of the children in Texas had developed symptoms of botulism, which brought the total number of Castleberry-associated cases in Texas to three. There were also three unrelated residents of Ohio who had developed botulism consuming Castleberry’s hot dog chili sauce in the week before symptom onsets. Botulinum toxin was identified in leftover chili sauce collected from the refrigerator belonging to one of the Ohio cases.
On July 18 and 19, a team of federal investigators were sent to the firm’s warehouse. Samples of Castleberry’s Austex and Castleberry’s brand Hot Dog Chili Sauce with the “best by May 7, 2009” and “best by May 8, 2009” lot codes were collected and sent to FDA laboratories for testing. FDA testing of sample 428113, consisting of 17 swollen cans, found C. Botulinum toxin in 16 of the cans. This sample included the same time-stamp and lot code from the May 8, 2007 production as the can found in the Indiana home. FDA testing of sample 420352, consisting of six swollen cans, found C. Botulinum in four cans. FDA sample 420353 included one swollen can, and its contents tested positive for C. Botulinum toxin.
Federal investigators conducted extensive tests on Castleberry equipment. The findings are presented in an FDA report issued on August 10, 2007. Report below (click to download):
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Alabama's Tuscaloosa Farmers Market is again selling home-made jams and jellies, but NOT certain canned goods due to fear of botulism.
The Alabama Department of Public Health last summer banned the sales of any good prepared in home kitchens at the popular farmers market. Now health officials have issued a new regulation allowing foods like baked goods to be sold, but not the more potentially hazardous like canned beans and the like.
According to the Tuscaloosa News:
The Alabama Farmers Market Authority and the Alabama Department of Public Health worked together to create the amendment to the state’s food establishment sanitation regulations.
Under the amendment, food prepared for sale at farmers markets or at charitable, religious, civic or not-for-profit events is permissible as long as it’s not potentially hazardous and a label or visible sign indicates that it was prepared at a location not inspected by the health department.
These include items such as baked breads, rolls, cookies, cakes, brownies, fudge, double-crust fruit pies, fruit jams, jellies, marmalades and relishes, candy, spices or herbs and snack items such as popcorn, caramel corn and peanut brittle.
Prohibited are low-acid foods, such as green beans or tomato-based products, sold in hermetically sealed containers that can lead to deadly botulism if they’re not prepared at a high enough temperature or with a strong enough seal.
Heroin was discovered by Bayer, the German pharmaceutical company, as an alternative to morphine. Because the pain-killer also made people feel euphoric or even heroic, it earned its name Heroin.
The day when it was safety sold at the corner drugstore, however, was a long, long time ago.
Given the, shall we say, uneven production methods now supplying the demand for Heroin, it comes as no surprise that bad batches lead to bad results. Dublin, Ireland is now dealing with the worst possible result--Heroin on the street that is contaminated with deadly Botulism.
One drug user is already dead and six others may be suffering with Botulism.
Ireland's Belfast Telegraph reports:
Officials are trying to determine whether the outbreak may be linked to a batch of contaminated heroin.
Botulism is caused by a toxin released by the clostridium botulinum bacterium and can affect drug users who inject into soft tissue rather than veins.
The disease can lead to problems with vision and paralysis and can be fatal in 5-10 percent of cases.
For more, go here.
This was first published yesterday on the Marler Blog:
I just finished my presentation here at the ACI Conference giving an overview of the increase in 2007 and 2008 in recalls and outbreaks associated with hamburger and E. coli O157:H7 when I got an email of an article from Clinical Infectious Diseases from its November 15, 2008 publication on the 2006 Carrot Juice Botulism Outbreak tied to Bolthouse Farms.
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For those that do not recall, in September 2006, three people living in Georgia developed food-borne botulism that was eventually traced to commercial carrot juice from a single bottle. Soon thereafter an additional case in Florida and two in Ontario, Canada surfaced. One of the 6 botulism patients died 90 days after illness onset. One year later, two others were still on ventilators. The remaining three were taken off ventilator support after 54, 90, and 129 days. Two survivors were at home, two were in rehabilitation facilities, and one was still hospitalized. All the patients had consumed carrot juice from the same manufacturer.
Now, here is the interesting part, according to Dr. Anandi N. Sheth at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia and colleagues, an investigation eventually determined that inadequate refrigeration probably led to botulinum toxin production. As the investigators pointed out, the pasteurized carrot juice had no protection against the bacterium Clostridium botulinum other than refrigeration. "This investigation demonstrates that carrot juice and other processed foods with no natural barriers to C. botulinum germination require additional chemical or thermal barriers," the investigators wrote in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Accordingly, they report, "In June 2007, the FDA modified its guidance for refrigerated low-acid juices to recommend adding a validated juice-treatment method, such as acidification or appropriate thermal treatment, to decrease the risk of C. botulinum contamination, should any breaches in refrigeration occur."
The canning factory responsible for giving botulism poisoning to at least eight people closes forever today.
Castleberry's in Augusta, GA closes today, putting 327 people out of work.
Connor Brothers, which owns Castleberry's is selling the company to Hanover foods.
Hanover currently operates its own factory in New Jersey.
Executives with Conner Brothers say Castleberry's sales never recovered from the 2007 botulism outbreak that temporarily closed the plant.
The Food Industry Center at the University of Minnesota has published a case study of last year's botulism recall. The Castleberry's: 2007 Botulism Recall publication examines this nationwide recall in a case study that "illustrates the complexity of the food industry." The case study was funded by the National Center for Food Protection and Defense is available as a free Adobe Acrobat download here.
Clovis, New Mexico is usually known for Cannon Air Force Base and the Norman Petty Recording
Studios. Cannon is home of the Air Force's Special Operations Command. Petty's studio recorded Buddy Holly's first chart-topping hits. Clovis, however, is known for something else. Something that happened 30 years ago---a botulism outbreak that killed two and made 30 others sick, some very seriously.
Don McAlavy, Clovis News Journal columnist, recalled what happened:
One of the most dreaded food-borne poisons known to man struck Curry County on Friday night, April 4, 1978. A group of people were at a banquet in the old Colonial Park Country Club that night. Some 30 members of that group became slightly ill to very ill. It was the dreaded botulism that killed two people in that group. One of them was John Garrett Jr., a noted farmer at Claud.
Dr. Jonathan Mann, state health officer, said the area is extremely fortunate that help for the victims were able to mobilize to assist victims in this tragic case. Cannon AFB Hospital had air-evacuation aircraft to fly patients to Albuquerque when first alerted.
All day Saturday and Sunday, volunteers from all walks of life called the hundreds of people that were known to have eaten at the club in the past week.
As patients were hospitalized in Clovis, Albuquerque, Lubbock, Amarillo, El Paso and Santa Fe, Dr. Mann arranged for anti-toxin to be flown in from all over the country.
For the rest of McAlavy's look-back, go here.
Bucyrus City Auditor Joyce Schifer gave this update on the Ohio family stricken by botulism poisoning from home-canning gone bad:
"Joann Palm's family is still very sick from botulism poisoning. Her 15-year-old son is still in Akron's Children's Hospital and she is staying at the Ronald McDonald House there," Schifer said. "Her parents are still in Mansfield General Hospital but are doing better. One of her twin daughters was also affected and while she is back in school, she still gets worn out easily and is in speech therapy from the problems caused by the botulism.
"Her son will soon be moved to Children's Hospital in Columbus, but it will be a long process for him to get well. Many city employees have donated their sick time to Joann and that is very much appreciated."
The Palm family was affected by the botulism after eating home-canned green beans.
The Connors Brothers Income Fund has dumped (oh, sold) its Castleberry brands to Hanover Foods Corp. It means the 82-year old Castleberry canning factory in Augusta, GA will be closed with the next 60 days.
The troubled canning factory was responsible for a botulism outbreak in late 2007. The 20-acre factory site is also on the block. The sale to Hanover will shift production of any Castleberry brands to the company's Aunt Kitty's Foods plant in scenic New Jersey.
Closure of the Castleberry's canning factory will put 327 people out of work, according to the Augusta Chronicle. And its not a good time to be hitting the bricks. The newspaper said:
As Donte Jones walked through the Augusta plant's gates after completing his shift Tuesday, the 21-year-old temporary worker said he was told of the closing just before 7 p.m.
"I'm just hoping they'll call me back tomorrow," said Mr. Jones, a loader for the company.
Having lived across the street from the plant since 1959, Mary Clayton said the closing would be catastrophic for the entire community.
"These are not good times for people to be out of work," the retired Fort Gordon employee said. "I really hate for this to happen."
Castleberry's Toronto-based owner spent the past seven months investigating a sale of its meat division, prompted by a loss of $38 million when the plant shut down for two months in 2007 when botulism toxin was found in its chili sauce.
For more, go here.
Mistakes commonly made when pressure canning include:
followed.
For more, go here. Thanks to Extension Service, USDA.
The Muskegon Chronicle today has a story about Michigan's New Era Canning Company's attempt to get back in business after botulism-related recalls forced its shut-down.
Family-owned since it began in 1910, New Era wants to resume production. Rick Ray, New Era's president and chief executive officer, told the Chronicle the outlook for the company can be described this way:
requirements, that allows for certain cans of produce in the warehouses to be sold and the canning process to begin.The family is even willing to give up control of New Era to new investors if it helps in getting the canning factory back in business. Up to 260 seasonal and 50 full-time jobs would result.
In reading the story, found here, we find it interesting or perhaps telling that there is no mention of help for New Era from the State of Michigan. The state is mess and maybe this is an example of why. We wonder if Connors Brothers might look at New Era if they dump Castleberry's. That would be ironic.
The Connors Brothers Income Fund, based in Canada, was not ready to say last week if it would keep its Augusta, GA canning factory for Castleberry's brands.
Botulism poisoning in its chili cause forced the plant to shut down a year ago. Since its been back up and running, Connors said its was "stable and performing to expectations"
The recall cost the income fund more than $35 million with litigation remaining on behalf of some of the victims.
Wal-Mart is still shying away from the Castleberry's brand, which has prevented recovery of sales, according to chief executive Chris Lischewski.
“We still have not regained distribution at our largest customer, which is Wal-Mart,” Mr. Lischewski said.
More can be found here.
Rebekah Denn writes a blog called Devouring sEATtle as part of her duties as a food writer at the Seattle Post Intelligencer. She is out today with Free canning class - no botulism allowed.
In addition to telling her readers about the canning class offered by the Washington State University Extension Service, Denn gives readers some advice about canning and avoiding botulism at the same time. She credits WSU's Jessica Dally for these words of wisdom:
1. Don't assume a recipe or canning process is safe because it was handed down from your
grandparents. "Your grandmother or grandfather or whoever was canning might have gotten away with a lot of things, but that doesn't mean you're going to." (This makes me feel better about not having learned canning at my grandmother's knee. At least I learned applesauce.)
2. Don't use old recipe books or ancient canners; invest in newer ones. Canners have been redesigned, our understanding of food safety has improved; even the way we grow some produce has changed. Dally recommends this book and this one.
3, If your pressure canner uses a dial gauge, it needs to be checked annually for accuracy. And there are very, very few places anymore that check gauges. Use a canner with a weighted gauge to make your life easier.
4. After your goods are canned, store them without the rings around the jar lids. If the seal should break, you want to know about it; you don't want the ring holding the lid in place. Besides, that lets you re-use the rings instead of buying a new batch each time you can. For the same reasons, don't stack your canned goods; store them in a single layer.
5. Do not alter recipes. Even a tweak like adding extra garlic can change the food's acidity and the recommended processing time. "You are playing around with something you don't want to play around with."
6. A jar lifter can be your best friend in the canning kitchen.
Faulty home canning has long been a source of botulism. Commercial canning had a long track record of going botulism-free, but sadly as Castleberry's and New Era has shown, that is no longer the case.
Joan Rivers, age 75, says everybody should have Botox, the wrinkle-free injection for maintaining a youthful appearance.
Botulism is a rare, life-threatening paralytic illness caused by neurotoxins produced by an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. Unlike Clostridium perfringens, which requires the ingestion of large numbers of viable cells to cause symptoms, the symptoms of botulism are caused by the ingestion of highly toxic, soluble exotoxins produced by C. botulinum while growing in foods.Canning fresh foods at home can be a safe and affordable way to preserve bounty from your garden, but it can also pose a health risk if done improperly, said Jaci McReynolds, with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
“The most serious health risks with home canning are caused by improper preparation of the food during the canning process,” she said.
“In fact, about 90 percent of the foodborne illness outbreaks and death related to botulism can be traced to improperly home canned low-acid foods,” she said.
Botulism is a deadly toxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, McReynolds said.For more, go here.
We are waiting for the first sickness and death from Tipu's Tiger Chai Concentrate because it may be taited with Clostridium botulinum. The product was recalled Tuesday by Tipu's Tiger Chai of Missoula, MT.Atlanta-based Bella Cucina, which sells through the mail, on the internet and in stores, is recalling 6-ounce glass jars of porcini and parmesan pesto because of possible contamination by Clostridium botulinum.
That's the bacteria that can produce the toxin that causes botulism, a potentially deadly form of food poisoning.
The porcini and parmesan pesto sells for $12 for each 6-ounce jar. Sure does sound tasty, though. Bella Cucina's website promises that the "Porcini and Parmesan Pesto is a thick, hearty pesto combining Italy’s most treasured ingredients: dried porcini mushrooms and parmesan cheese. This earthy pesto melts in your mouth..."
No illnesses have yet connected with the "earthy pesto" that now maybe just a little too earthy.
The jars being recalled are marked by lot numbers 0081028 and 0081018.
A frozen salted Croaker fish that may carry botulism is being recalled by a New Jersey food store, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Here's the poop from the company press release distributed by FDA:
Grand Supercenter, Inc. of Lyndhurst, NJ is recalling the following product because they have the potential to be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium, which can cause life-threatening illness or death.
HC Fresh, Frozen Salted Croaker,
Net. Wt.: 16.9 oz (480 gram),
Item # HC 0500402,
Expiration Date: Aug 02. 2009
Consumers are warned not to use these products even if they do not look or smell spoiled.
HC Fresh Frozen Salted Croaker was distributed through H Mart stores including H Mart and Super H Mart in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas area.
See the pr package on the FDA website here.
WJBF-TV 6, the ABC affiliate in Augusta, GA, tonight (3/27/08) is reporting that the Castleberry's canning factory in that city will re-open on Monday. According to the WJBF report:
Officials with Augusta's Castleberry's food plant say they're hoping to re-open the plant Monday. The FDA suspended the plant's temporary operating permit a couple weeks ago. That permit was issued after a July 2007 nationwide recall of hot dog chili made at the plant.
Last summer's recall came after botulism was found in some of the company's canned chili. No recall was involved in the latest closure. There were rumors within the food industry that the Canadian owners might be trying to sell the brand and the factory.
TV 6's report can be found here.
Here's the company's statement issued after the news came out that Castleberry's Food Company has again closed its Augusta, Georgia canning factory:
Castleberry’s Food Company has received notification that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the Temporary Emergency Operating Permit that was
issued in September 2007. The permit granted permission for the Augusta, Georgia factory to commence production of FDA products, following a July 2007 voluntary product recall.
Castleberry’s will work closely with the FDA to promptly answer questions and address any possible concerns. Although formal notification has not yet been received, we understand that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) may also require responses.
During this time, Castleberry’s has decided to cease production of all products in the Augusta, Georgia factory. Factory work shifts are temporarily on hold.
We are cooperating fully with the agencies and look forward to a prompt resolution that we can resume operation and work shifts.
It is important to note that the suspension of our temporary permit does not involve any product recall.
For another pair of eyes on the closure, check out what Elizabeth Lee has to say in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her story inluding the history of Castleberry's bout with botulism can be found here.
We said the Main Stream Media would be catching up with the "Bill Marler Blog" and we were right. One of the first to step up and tell the story of a botulism victim who has now filed a lawsuit against Castleberry's Chili is the Sandusky Register. In the Ohio newspaper, reporter Cory Frolik writes:
Carl Ours Jr. won't be eating Castleberry Food Co.'s chili again
The New London resident planned to file a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday or today.
The civil lawsuit claims he developed botulism after eating some of the company's chili sauce in late June 2007.
Shortly after digging into a can of the chili on a camping trip, the 39-year-old man said he started having trouble chewing and swallowing food, and his muscles weakened.
The symptoms grew worse, and he was flown by helicopter to Cleveland Clinic, where he was diagnosed with the potentially fatal illness, a draft of the lawsuit states.
"He was in bad shape ," said his 72-year-old father, Carl Ours Sr. of Norwalk. "It was a life-or-death thing."
The rest of Frolik's story can be found here.
Marler Blog, also known as Bill's Blog, often breaks food illness news ahead of the Main Stream Media. Written personally by Bill Marler, managing partner of the Seattle-based Marler Clark law firm, Marler Blog is in the best position in the nation when it comes to knowing what's being done to advance the interests of victims of food-borne illness.
Yesterday there was another example of this fact when Marler Blog reported:
A lawsuit was filed today against Castleberry’s Food Co., the company that recalled tens of millions of pounds of canned meat products sold under over 80 different labels after they were identified as the source of a botulism outbreak in July, 2007. The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of Carl Ours, a New London, Ohio resident who became ill with botulism poisoning after consuming Castleberry’s Chili Sauce in late June of 2007. Mr. Ours is represented by Marler Clark of Seattle and Murray & Murray of Sandusky, Ohio.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that he consumed Castleberry’s Chili Sauce on or about June 28, 2007, and began suffering from symptoms of botulism, including muscle weakness, inability of swallow, and choking while eating, on June 30. Mr. Ours’ symptoms worsened and within days he suffered weakness in his arms and legs that progressed until he had difficulty walking. He sought emergency treatment several times before being taken by “life-flight” helicopter to the Cleveland Clinic, where he was diagnosed with botulism poisoning. Mr. Ours was hospitalized from July 7 to August 3, and was then transferred to a nursing home to continue his recovery. He returned home on August 24, but continues to suffer physical injury as a result of his botulism illness.
Castleberry’s sold a product that was unsafe for human consumption and now owes a duty to its injured customers to compensate them for their injuries,” said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. “It’s only right for Castleberry’s to offer restitution for Mr. Ours’ physical, emotional, and financial losses. His medical expenses and lost wages alone total over $100,000.”
Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness that is caused by a nerve toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. Symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. The illness can cause paralysis, respiratory failure, and death.
Marler added, “Without proper medical care, Mr. Ours and others who were part of the outbreak might not still be with us today.”
Watch the MSM, they wll catch up soon!
Unpasteurized carrot juice made by Bolthouse Farms was responsible for four cases of botulism in the United States and three in Canada in late 2006. The Bakersfield, CA-based company dropped unpasteurized carrot juice from its product lineup after it caused the botulism outbreak.
The latest development is a lawsuit in Canada filed on behalf of Susanna Chen and her husband, Andy Valy. Both nearly died after drinking the unpasteurized carrot juice in August 2006. Ms. Chen drank the juice first, and was in the hospital when Mr. Valy drank the same product because he was not aware of what made his wife sick.
Both fell into comas and it weeks passed before health officials figured out they were dealing with deadly botulism poisoning. Bolthouse Farms blames the couple for not keeping the juice cold enough.
The National Post reported that the couple's lawyer sees it differently. The NP says:
"Michael Shannon, a lawyer representing the couple, disagrees. “They refrigerated the product, they just drank a toxic cocktail that they weren’t aware of.” Mr. Shannon refused to disclose the amount the couple is suing for, except to say they will be launching a suit in the United States for pain and suffering.
Ms. Chen remains in a rehabilitation center and Mr. Valy was only discharged from the hospital in January. Health officials say they had among the most severe botulism anyone has survived.
Go here for the complete NP story.
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