Guymon Extracts recalled about 4,202 pounds of pork soup late Tuesday night after a processing problem left the soup vulnerable to spore-forming bacteria, including the one that causes botulism.

“Botulism is a life-threatening disease caused by the ingestion of a potent neurotoxin produced during growth of the C. botulinum bacteria,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture site explains. “This neurotoxin is among the most toxic substances known; even microscopic amounts can cause illness or death.”

That’s why this is a Class 1, High Health Risk recall, which the USDA defines as, “a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”

Despite that, the recall comes seven days after an investigator found the problem while doing a food safety assessment at the processing facility. The soup, packaged Jan. 3, went to Florida, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Washington.
Along with the botulism bacteria, the recall notice mentioned Clostridium perfringens. That bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causes “one million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year.”

“Pork Soup with Rendered Pork Fat (from bone)” comes in 2.2-pound bags, 10 per case, with a best-by date of Dec. 22, 2019, a lot code 010218-1 and a product code of 61306.