sterilizing jars contamination/illness signs (Bev)

September 7, 2007

Funny question but seriously a good question too... Here are the facts. And if

I were you I'd refrigerate every last jar if you intend on eating them just to

be safe. Some say if in dought throw it out...but like you, I have eaten stuff

and worried later if I should have...you be the jugde after reading this.

What is botulism? Botulism is a serious illness caused by a nerve toxin made

by the bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. (A toxin is a poison that is released

by some bacteria). There are three types of botulism: food, wound and infant

botulism. Eating food that has the botulism toxin causes food-borne botulism. It

often involves improperly processed home canned foods. Wound botulism occurs

when Clostridium botulinum spores contaminate a wound and produce toxin.

Botulism in infants under one year of age has been associated with ingestion of

Clostridium botulinum spores from the environment or specific foods such as

honey.

Can botulism be used as a bioterrorism threat? In the event of a bioterrorism

event, people intentionally exposed who breathe in the toxin or eat the toxin in

contaminated food or water might develop the illness. No information is

available on the effects of breathing in the botulinum toxin but it may be

similar to the food-borne illness.

How is it spread? Botulism is most often caused by bacteria that have

produced the toxin in a wound or in food. Person-to-person spread does not

occur.

What are the symptoms? All types of botulism produce symptoms that affect the

nervous system. The classic symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred

vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth and

muscle weakness that goes down the body, first the shoulders, then upper arms,

lower arms, thighs, calves, feet. If untreated these symptoms may progress to

paralysis. Infants with botulism appear lethargic, feed poorly, are constipated,

and have a weak cry and poor muscle tone.

How soon after exposure would symptoms develop? Symptoms generally begin

12-36 hours after eating contaminated food, but may occur as early as a few

hours and as late as 10 days.

Can I spread this to my family? No, this cannot be spread from person to

person.

What is the treatment? The symptoms of botulism make hospitalization

necessary. If diagnosed early, botulism can be treated with an antitoxin, which

blocks the action of the toxin circulating in the blood. This can prevent

patients from worsening, but recovery still takes many weeks. If left untreated,

a patient may need to be on a breathing machine (ventilator) for weeks and would

require intensive medical and nursing care. Infant botulism is treated with

immune globulin, which is similar to the antitoxin. Most cases of botulism

recover with appropriate medical care.

If I develop symptoms, what do I do? If you should develop any of the

symptoms above, please contact your physician or your local hospital immediately

for evaluation. Please keep any contaminated food for testing.

Can botulism be prevented? All canned and preserved foods should be properly

processed and prepared. Persons who do home canning should follow strict

hygienic procedures to reduce contamination of foods. Because the botulism toxin

is destroyed by high temperatures, persons who eat home-canned foods should

consider boiling the food for 10 minutes before eating it to ensure safety.

Bulging containers should not be opened and foods with an unusual smell should

not be eaten or even tasted. Canned food with bulging lids should be thrown

away. Identified sources of infant botulism, such as honey, should not be fed to

infants.

Bev <bdowns45681 wrote:

I just canned some pickles last week. They were the first canning

I've ever did by myself.. I used to help my mom when I was a child

40 years ago.... I forgot to sterilize mine, does that mean I'm

going to get sick or die from eating them? I've alread eaten just

about 2 jars now.

Bev

>

> I really believe that " sterilizing " jars can not be properly done

unless you boil the jars for 25 minutes at a constant rolling boil,

under pressure is really the only sure shot way. I add a small

bottle of cream of tarter to the water before to prevent any hard

water film on the jars. Jars will remain crystal clear this way. Jar

lifters are my friend for this. I keep them hot and completely

submerged in the boiling water until immediately ready to start the

canning process. They stay hot, which they very well should to avoid

a shattered jar...yes I have had this happen, canning jars makers

like Mason and Ball and others are not made to change temps so ultra

rapidly.

>

> The home dishwasher will not sterilze...sorry it is just not

true. Unless you have a resturant commercial quality dishwaher that

heats the jars to 250 for at least the required 20 minutes you are

only discenfecting. Not sterilizing. I do not trust some of the oven

or dishwaher methods that I have read on here. Using the oven, I'm

sure to burn myself.

>

> If you want to get technical actual complete sterilization does

not happen unless under pressure. I know this because I have to

conduct spore test in my medical feild and sterilze surgical

instruments.

>

> So boil the hell out of your jars...I actually keep mine boiling

for hours while I'm working on the other food prepartions. Better

yet if you have two pressure cookers ...under pressure is best.

>

> Don't be scared, once you do it a few times hopefully along side

a knowlegdeable person...you can do it. Canning is so rewarding.

>

> The following in something I found on WWW about barometric

pressure and boiling point differences depending on

altitude...interesting bitty.

>

> Charts giving the boiling point of water vs altitude are based

on the standard atmosphere and can be quite misleading. If the

barometric pressure is different from the standard atmosphere, the

actual boiling point of water will vary from that given in the

charts.

>

> For example: If you live in Denver and wish to calibrate your

thermometer using boiling water as the standard, the charts will

tell you the boiling point of water in Denver is 202°F. If on that

day the barometric pressure in Denver is 30.05 inHg, the correct

boiling point for water is 212+°F. If your thermometer indicates

212° in boiling water, you will believe it to be 10° high. This

means that if you are cooking a chicken to an internal temperature

of 170°F in the breast, you will actually overcook by 10°, scratch

your head, and wonder why is was dry when you did everything right.

> A more reliable way to determine the correct boiling point of

water, at a specific time, is to use the calculator below. Just

enter the current barometric pressure, in inches of mercury (inHg),

and click on " Do Boiling Point Calculation " . The correct boiling

will be returned in the lower window.

> You can visit The Weather Channel and enter your ZIP code to

determine you current barometric pressure.

>

> _

>

> oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not

web links.

>

September 7, 2007

I think, rather than try to refrigerate a whole batch of pickles, I would open

the jars. bring the stuff to a boil again and recan them after steralizing the

jars.

Botulism is not to be sneezed at. Almost everyone who gets it dies. Anything

that is canned, whether it is a can of campbells soup or your own canned pickles

should be thrown out if they look or smell the least bit odd.

If a commercially canned product is opened and then can has been severly

dented so that the inside surface of the can is blackened, toss it!

Botulism shouldn't make us afraid ot can our produce, but it should defenately

make us careful.

Katie

Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight's top picks on TV.

September 7, 2007

Doesn't the food that has botulism taste bad or funny or look

funny? When I was a child I open a can of campbels cream of Chicken

soup and it tasted funny but I ate it and got very very sick... Dose

or can botulism go away on it's own?

Bev

<leanmeanqueennadine wrote:

>

> Funny question but seriously a good question too... Here are the

facts. And if I were you I'd refrigerate every last jar if you

intend on eating them just to be safe. Some say if in dought throw

it out...but like you, I have eaten stuff and worried later if I

should have...you be the jugde after reading this.

> What is botulism? Botulism is a serious illness caused by a

nerve toxin made by the bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. (A toxin

is a poison that is released by some bacteria). There are three

types of botulism: food, wound and infant botulism. Eating food that

has the botulism toxin causes food-borne botulism. It often involves

improperly processed home canned foods. Wound botulism occurs when

Clostridium botulinum spores contaminate a wound and produce toxin.

Botulism in infants under one year of age has been associated with

ingestion of Clostridium botulinum spores from the environment or

specific foods such as honey.

> Can botulism be used as a bioterrorism threat? In the event of

a bioterrorism event, people intentionally exposed who breathe in

the toxin or eat the toxin in contaminated food or water might

develop the illness. No information is available on the effects of

breathing in the botulinum toxin but it may be similar to the food-

borne illness.

> How is it spread? Botulism is most often caused by bacteria

that have produced the toxin in a wound or in food. Person-to-person

spread does not occur.

> What are the symptoms? All types of botulism produce symptoms

that affect the nervous system. The classic symptoms of botulism

include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred

speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth and muscle weakness that

goes down the body, first the shoulders, then upper arms, lower

arms, thighs, calves, feet. If untreated these symptoms may progress

to paralysis. Infants with botulism appear lethargic, feed poorly,

are constipated, and have a weak cry and poor muscle tone.

> How soon after exposure would symptoms develop? Symptoms

generally begin 12-36 hours after eating contaminated food, but may

occur as early as a few hours and as late as 10 days.

> Can I spread this to my family? No, this cannot be spread from

person to person.

> What is the treatment? The symptoms of botulism make

hospitalization necessary. If diagnosed early, botulism can be

treated with an antitoxin, which blocks the action of the toxin

circulating in the blood. This can prevent patients from worsening,

but recovery still takes many weeks. If left untreated, a patient

may need to be on a breathing machine (ventilator) for weeks and

would require intensive medical and nursing care. Infant botulism is

treated with immune globulin, which is similar to the antitoxin.

Most cases of botulism recover with appropriate medical care.

> If I develop symptoms, what do I do? If you should develop any

of the symptoms above, please contact your physician or your local

hospital immediately for evaluation. Please keep any contaminated

food for testing.

> Can botulism be prevented? All canned and preserved foods

should be properly processed and prepared. Persons who do home

canning should follow strict hygienic procedures to reduce

contamination of foods. Because the botulism toxin is destroyed by

high temperatures, persons who eat home-canned foods should consider

boiling the food for 10 minutes before eating it to ensure safety.

Bulging containers should not be opened and foods with an unusual

smell should not be eaten or even tasted. Canned food with bulging

lids should be thrown away. Identified sources of infant botulism,

such as honey, should not be fed to infants.

>

September 7, 2007

The pickles wouldn't hold up to boiling them , then cannning

again... they are aready very soft.. If I think they are bad or I

don't want to take a chance I'll just throw them away..

Bev

>

> I think, rather than try to refrigerate a whole batch of pickles,

I would open the jars. bring the stuff to a boil again and recan

them after steralizing the jars.

> Botulism is not to be sneezed at. Almost everyone who gets it

dies. Anything that is canned, whether it is a can of campbells

soup or your own canned pickles should be thrown out if they look or

smell the least bit odd.

> If a commercially canned product is opened and then can has been

severly dented so that the inside surface of the can is blackened,

toss it!

> Botulism shouldn't make us afraid ot can our produce, but it

should defenately make us careful.

> Katie

September 7, 2007

don't throw your jars away. wash and save those and your rings.

Judy

-

Bev

Friday, September 07, 2007 10:58 PM

Re: sterilizing jars contamination/illness signs

(Bev)

The pickles wouldn't hold up to boiling them , then cannning

again... they are aready very soft.. If I think they are bad or I

don't want to take a chance I'll just throw them away..

Bev

>

> I think, rather than try to refrigerate a whole batch of pickles,

I would open the jars. bring the stuff to a boil again and recan

them after steralizing the jars.

> Botulism is not to be sneezed at. Almost everyone who gets it

dies. Anything that is canned, whether it is a can of campbells

soup or your own canned pickles should be thrown out if they look or

smell the least bit odd.

> If a commercially canned product is opened and then can has been

severly dented so that the inside surface of the can is blackened,

toss it!

> Botulism shouldn't make us afraid ot can our produce, but it

should defenately make us careful.

> Katie

September 8, 2007

OK, some food will taste tainted, some will not. This is why they have had

so many recalls. People cannot taste the problem. It does not go away.

Marilyn Daub

mcdaub

Vanceburg, KY

My Cats Knead Me!!

-

Bev

Friday, September 07, 2007 11:57 PM

Re: sterilizing jars contamination/illness

signs (Bev)