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Cooking fruit and vegetable preserves at least three times at appropriate intervals can save lives. This is the only way to get rid of Clostridium botulinum – the bacteria that are most often responsible for poisoning the so-called botulism. Such poisoning can be very dangerous to your health.
- Incorrectly prepared preserves can be very dangerous
- Bad processing causes bacteria responsible for botulism to grow under the cap
- Such poisoning can be very dangerous, in extreme cases it can lead to the death of the patient
Sausage venom (i.e. botulinum toxin) is a very strong poison that can be contained not only – as the name suggests – in meat preparations and canned food. It turns out that it can also be found in vegetable and fruit preserves.
Epidemiological data show that the number of food poisonings with botulinum toxin in Poland has remained at the level of 20-40 cases per year in the last decade (at least those officially confirmed). Unfortunately, there are fatal cases.
From years to poisoning most often occurs in the period from summer to autumn. And this includes because of the fashion for self-preparation of food “no preservatives”.
Where does sausage venom come from?
Probably everyone knows that you can poison it by eating stale meat or meat. But, unfortunately, there are many more potential sources of poisoning.
– The name of sausage venom may be misleading, as it suggests that the cause of dangerous, sometimes fatal poisoning are only cold cuts and meat, while poisoning can also occur as a result of eating preserved vegetables, fish, and even mushrooms and fruit – warns the National Institute of Health Public – National Institute of Hygiene (NIZP-PZH).
We can therefore be exposed to this dangerous neurotoxin, most often produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum (also called botulinum sticks) as a result of eating all kinds of improperly prepared or badly stored preserves, cans and canned food.
How to Avoid Botulism
Unfortunately, fighting botulism is not easy. The bacteria that produce this toxin produce the so-called spores, able to survive for a long time in high temperature (cooking) and other unfavorable environmental conditions.
Worse still, botulism spores are found in soil and dispersed by wind and water. They are also found in the digestive tract of animals. Therefore, they end up in food in the form of impurities, with soil residues on vegetables and inadequately cleaned meat. Under conditions of limited access to oxygen, and especially in the absence of oxygen (and such an environment is in the jar), these spores develop into toxin-producing bacteria.
How to prepare preserves to avoid botulism?
Experts from NIPH-NIH inform that to eliminate spores it is necessary to cook preserves at least three times:
–First and second day for an hour
–The third day for 30 minutes.
Unfortunately, this process cannot be accelerated or carried out at one time by cooking preserves for a long time. This has to do with the life cycle of these bacteria.
The storage conditions for preserves and canned food are also important. Ideally, the jars should be kept cool.
Additionally, cooking canned food for 10 minutes or heating it for 30 minutes at 80 degrees Celsius (before eating) reduces the risk of botulism.
What are the symptoms of botulism?
The characteristic symptoms of severe botulism are muscle dysfunction, which can lead to paralysis, and thus, for example, to respiratory arrest. After eating contaminated food, the first symptoms may take a few hours, but sometimes it takes a few days, depending on the amount of toxin ingested.
In the initial stage of poisoning with botulinum toxin, other symptoms often occur, such as: malaise, nausea, gastrointestinal discomfort, vision problems, speech and swallowing problems.
How do you react in the event of botulism?
– When you notice the symptoms mentioned above in yourself or your relatives – up to 8 days after eating preserves, canned food, canned food or other food stored in conditions of limited oxygen access – you should immediately see a doctor.
– After talking with the patient and assessing the clinical condition, the doctor may decide to take blood for testing in order to detect botulinum toxin. After the poisoning is diagnosed, the patient is administered a universal botulinum antitoxin neutralizing the effect of botulinum toxin and symptomatic treatment is applied.
-It is important not to delay the decision to see a doctor, otherwise the poisoning may end tragically.