What Foods Cause Botulism?

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

What foods cause botulism?

Mushrooms, fish, cucumbers - these familiar foods for every person, used in any family, seem completely harmless. However, in fermented, salted, pickled form, it is they who can become a source of a dangerous disease that can lead to death - botulism. Anyone who is not able to refuse mouth-watering homemade preparations needs to learn the rules for their safe preparation and use.

Canned botulism

Homemade canned food aficionados are best suited to reconsider their dietary habits. Only in an industrial setting can botulism spores be dealt with. This is achieved by autoclaving at 125 ° C. Ordinary boiling allows you to fight only the vegetative form of the infection.

Fish, vegetables, meat, mushroom canned food - a potential threat to health:

• Botulism spores can arise in canned meat if a long time elapses between slaughter and processing. Also, the threat is posed by poor-quality washing of meat, improper smoking.
• 70% of cases of botulism are caused by fungi. This is due to the complexity of the complete cleaning of the product from particles of soil, long-term storage after collection.
• Smoked and dried fish cause whole familial outbreaks of infection. Various factors can be the reason: violation of storage conditions, preparation of a spoiled, uncooled product.
• Beets, carrots, cucumbers and other vegetables, poorly cleaned from soil, can also become a source of infection.

Botulism in mushrooms

Rarely are there people who have a negative attitude towards such a universal and tasty product as mushrooms. They serve as the basis for salads and soups, fried with potatoes, dried, pickled, salted. Unfortunately, not only poisonous mushrooms are dangerous to humans. Avid mushroom pickers are at risk, botulism threatens them in the first place.

Compliance with simple rules will help reduce the danger.

• When picking mushrooms, you should avoid old and overgrown ones, because this product belongs to the perishable category.
• It is forbidden to store mushrooms for a long time, in particular, it is not worth keeping them warm.
• The soil in which the mushrooms grow is one of the main contributors to botulism infection. In order not to allow them to become carriers, you need not to pull out the product with the mycelium, but carefully cut it off. The most polluted area will remain in the ground.
• Thorough cleaning is another effective preventive measure. Before preparing mushrooms, regardless of the method, you need to scrupulously clean them of blades of grass, adhered leaves, dirt, and rinse repeatedly.

Botulism in pickled mushrooms

Fried and boiled mushrooms are not as dangerous to human health as pickled ones. Many doctors advise people to completely eliminate this source of botulism. Correct workpiece technology helps to reduce risk.

• Regardless of whether mushrooms are pickled, fermented or salted, it is strictly forbidden to roll up the jars. The right solution is polyethylene lids that provide oxygen to the container. Bacilli of botulism spread precisely in hermetically sealed vessels, the absence of air is an ideal environment for them.
• There is a misconception that botulism spores are destroyed by sterilizing cans. However, for the bacillus to die, the temperature must rise above 125 ° C. It is difficult to achieve such a result in the absence of a professional autoclave.
• Almost everyone remembers that you cannot buy pickled mushrooms from strangers in the markets. But cases when a person fell ill with botulism, having tasted them at a visit to friends or relatives, are quite frequent. Only cooking yourself can reduce the danger.
• It is not recommended to dry, smoke fish at home on your own, as the intestines may contain botulinum spores.

Botulism in cucumbers

Among vegetables, cucumbers have become famous as one of the most common sources of botulism. First of all, this applies to homemade cucumber preparations that can bring a person to a hospital bed.

To prevent this from happening, you must either abandon them, or adhere to the basic rules of preparation:

• It is necessary to carefully study the cucumbers intended for canning. It is recommended to get rid of products that show signs of rot and spoilage right away.
• Washing of cucumbers should be repeated, vegetables are peeled in running water. Boiling will not completely protect you from infection, but it will reduce your risk. Not only vegetables should be boiled, but also the dishes used for the preparations.
• Home-made hermetically sealed containers are the shortest route to botulism. For pickles, it is best to give preference to plastic lids.
• The right places to store pickles are cellars, refrigerators. It is forbidden to keep homemade preparations warm.
• Banks should be carefully inspected before use. The slightest sign of swelling is a reason for rejection.
• Open cucumber jars cannot be kept in the refrigerator for a long time. If the food has not been eaten within a few days, it is best to throw it away. Normal color, smell and taste do not at all prove the safety of pickles.

Botulism in fish

In Russia, botulism has become famous for its fish. In pre-revolutionary times, red salted fish, which was eaten after “cold” smoking or raw, was “blamed” for this disease in pre-revolutionary times. Salmon, herring, smoked and salted bream, and nelma also served as a source of infection.

Modern studies have confirmed that sturgeons are the most dangerous in relation to botulism; representatives of this species are distinguished by their lack of sensitivity to the toxin. Particle fish - gobies, bream, herring, omul - can also become a carrier. Fish continues to be dangerous these days, but the risk of including fish on the menu can be reduced.

• Studies of cases of botulism, the source of which was fish, made it possible to establish that the most dangerous are products that have been stored for a long time without refrigeration before salting.
• High-quality cooling is necessary if fish, after smoking and preserving with salt, is placed on the table without preliminary heat treatment.
• “Symptoms” of putrefactive decomposition of fish, even subtle ones, are considered by doctors to be the reason for throwing it away. Smoking and salting stale food will not eliminate the possibility of botulinus toxin being present.
• When salting fish, the salt content in the solution must be at least 16%. The product should remain in this solution for at least a week. The recommended cooling temperature is up to 7 ° C.
• Dried, salted, smoked fish should not be purchased from unknown persons, in unofficial places. Even if artisanal food looks attractive, there is no guarantee that it is not contaminated.

Sad statistics say that botulism in almost 60% of cases leads to the death of the victim. Therefore, despite the rarity of the infection, it is worth reconsidering your attitude to your favorite homework.

Author of the article: Danilova Tatyana Vyacheslavovna | Infectionist

Education: in 2008 received a diploma in General Medicine (General Medicine) at the Pirogov Russian Research Medical University. Immediately passed an internship and received a diploma of a therapist