The Danger of Botulism in Food

The Danger of Botulism in Food Dr. Travis Stork: They’re handy in the kitchen. You may already know this next don’t. Before you make your own garlic infused olive oil, I want you to think twice because garlic, it’s a low acid vegetable. It will grow the toxin Clostridium botulinum at low oxygen levels. This can cause the paralytic illness botulism that people have heard about but fortunately is rare. Dr. Jim Sears: Right, but it’s interesting how many people keep cloves of garlic in olive oils soaking at home and I think I probably have this in my pantry right now. Dr. Drew Ordon: Because in restaurants, they’re using a lot of this stuff they keep it around. They soak it in either citric or phosphoric acid which will prevent the botulinum toxin. Dr. Travis Stork: So restaurants prepare in such a way that the botulinum toxin is not going to be produced. I want you to look at this animation of what really happens with botulism. If botulism were to grow, the bacteria proliferate. It releases this toxin and that’s what you're seeing if you happen to eat something that was embedded with this toxin. The toxin will get into your blood stream and what it does is it affects those nerves that sent impulses to your muscles so essentially your muscles become paralyzed. And so some of the symptoms are double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, overall muscle weakness. The end point, the reason people die is because they can’t even take a breath. And that’s why this is an illness we try to prevent. In kids -- Dr. Jim Sears: Another point. Babies under age one are even more susceptible to botulism because they don’t have the stomach acid that helps fight that off so that raw honey is a big source of botulism. It’s just such a tiny amount. It doesn’t hurt us but babies it is much worst. Dr. Travis Stork: Well, this entire subject in which we are talking about, it really made me think twice. We did an experiment to see how fast spores may grow. About ten days ago, we put some garlic in a bottle of olive oil. We sent to our friends at Labs Incorporated. The report came back this morning saying there is definitely Clostridium present in the bottle. Now botulism is very toxic. It can kill you. Even if diagnosed early, the recovery is long. It’s protracted so don’t try this at home. Make sure you cook your garlic if it’s going to set for extended periods and always refrigerate. That’s an important take home. Garlic is great for you. Olive oil is great for you and there are safe ways to eat it and unsafe ways and hopefully some people learn something there.