Botulism.

[worth1]

I read on a news feed the other day someone died.
They suspected botulism because the guy had been canning.
Been looking for the actual results of the investigation but have found nothing in the searches as to the results or even what the home canned product was.
I find this to be very exasperating to say the least.

[rdback]

Agreed. Last I saw, no real details have been released as yet.

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/04/ ... 2-40339987

[Rockoe10]

The reason I fear modern canning. Compared to old fermented "canning".

[karstopography]

About half or more news reports are less than useless as the vital information or details are completely missing. I honestly think most reporters either aren’t curious enough and/or swift enough to ask the right questions. How’s my hair look or when can we leave this hades hole, g forsaken spot are the main concerns of many reporters. One reason anything in the news is so frustrating as so many stories get covered so poorly.

[worth1]

So true and more reason to be cautious of them.
Another example of corilation doesn't prove causation.
They come into a home with home canned food and automatically jump to the conclusion it might be botulism.
Well that's a good place to start an investigation anyone would do so.
But really it's been awhile now and no followup.
This BS strikes fear in people
Is that what they want.
Not the CDC per say but the media in general.
People would be flabbergasted if they knew how little research has been done on home canning due to lack of funding.
Its criminal to say the least.

[wykvlvr]

We have talked about that story in my canning groups on Facebook and the consensus is given the information that was provided it could just have easily come from some other source then the single home canned food he consumed.

[Whwoz]

Confirming something as the true source of botulism is not that easy, yes any lab can take it 95% of the way but they will get to a point where they have a group of 8 Clostridium species which are very difficult to tell apart. There are only 3 labs in the world certified to confirm identify of C. botulinum.

[Sue_CT]

Then for something like that it can take quite a while to get results.

[Whwoz]

Yes @Sue_CT , it can take several months

[worth1]

It took forever to find out Dolores O'Riordan got drunk and drowned in the bathtub.
Something like 9 months.

But anyway the reason I named the thread Botulism is so the conversation can move on and not stay hung up on one person or case.
It's meant to be informative about canned food in general.

Upon researching yet for the millionth time about it I ran across yet more ignorance about canning.

This one person posted a question about using an instapot to can food.
Not only that they live at 4564 feet above sea level.
At that level water boils at around 200F.
12 degrees lower than sea level.

The reason for this is pressure at any given altitude.
At sea level its 14.7 Psi at 5000 feet it's 12.2. Psi.
There are other measurements but this is the one I'm going with.

Thus the reason for longer cooking times and canning times.
Water simply boils at a lower temperature and thusly creates pressure at that lower temperature.

Next don't be fooled by flat land.
I lived in Crane Texas and it's as flat as a pancake.
The elevation is 2500 feet.
One guy I asked in Alaska what the elevation was in Anchorage and he thought it must be a thousand feet or more because of how far north it was.
Anchorage is basically sea level i told him.
No way he exclaimed.
Dude you're standing next to the ocean.
But how can that be we are so far north?
How did this guy get out of high school?

Well any who I do a lot ot of constant refreshing myself on things because of the foods like meat and occasional canning.

[wykvlvr]

Sounds like he was mistaking latitude with altitude... and that could be a dangerous mistake to make when canning...

The Instapot questions is complicated by the fact some do have instructions for using them for canning at lower altitudes but lots of folks asking are glossing over the altitude fact... so the best answer is it depends.

In my favorite canning group on Facebook the single most often repeated message is KNOW YOUR ALTITUDE. There has even been a link to an altitude app posted in the group. Per the app I am at 6122 ft altitude and water boils at 201.26F at this altitude. So high altitude adjustments are a way of life... For canning that means 13 pounds pressure at least on the gauge or a 15 pound weight. And lengthen water bath canning... I can never remember the amount of time to add but that is what the handy dandy charts are for right?

[bower]

This is a good page about it:
https://ucanr.edu/sites/MFPOC/Emergency/Botulism/

[worth1]

This is a good page about it:
https://ucanr.edu/sites/MFPOC/Emergency/Botulism/

I found that one too.

The other day I tried to have an intelligent conversation with a kid fresh out of school about the subject for some reason and he had no idea that air pressure decreased with higher elevation.
He also didn't know helium was an element.
Practically none of these guys know what alternating current is or what 60 hertz is.
Or what a hertz is.
No idea what direct current is.
I have to start from total scratch when training these people.
Their mind is a blank other than whatever they pick up on social media.
None of them know what Botulism is.
I first read about it in Weekly Reader in grade school.
Everything I mentioned above we learned in grade school.

What the bloody devil they can't even read a simple instruction sheet on how to wire up simple things.
Let alone a pressure canner or cooker.
No wonder the instant pot is so popular.
Set and walk away.
No thinking or paying attention to what you're doing.

I forgot to check the steam vent and the plug blew out.
Now the ceiling is covered in beans.
I was on Tik Tok, sorry my bad.
Really