Source of Ohio botulism cases likely was potato salad

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) — Health officials say the likely source of the botulism outbreak that killed one person and sickened many others at an Ohio church potluck dinner was home-canned potatoes used in a potato salad.

The Ohio Department of Health said Monday that testing has narrowed the source to potato salad served at the April 19 potluck at Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church in Lancaster, which is southeast of Columbus.

A 55-year-old woman died, and officials have confirmed 20 other botulism cases, along with 10 suspected cases. A dozen people are still in the hospital. Patients have been treated with a botulism antitoxin provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Botulism is a rare but serious illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by certain kinds of bacteria.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150427/us--botulism-ohio-01cfd33424.html

[AuntPatsy]

1. That is so horrible, I hope they feel well enough soon...

[jwirr]

2. That makes sense. For decades we have known that potato salad if left out of the fridge too long

is dangerous.

[jmowreader]

3. You're thinking of salmonella

Botulism is an "anaerobic" bacteria - it doesn't produce toxin when there's air around. Most food-borne botulism cases come from improperly-prepared home-canned foods - exactly what they suspect in this incident.

I wonder why the person who made this salad cans potatoes.

[jwirr]

14. Thank you. I can't imagine canning potatoes either. Maybe just a way to store excess garden

produce? Would have been better off sharing it with the poor.

[jmowreader]

18. Potatoes keep well long-term in cool, dry storage

Someone who doesn't have a root cellar probably shouldn't be growing potatoes.

[jwirr]

19. We grow them and take what we can keep and the rest go to either poor families around us or

the food shelf. Actually we do this with any produce that we have extras.

[FarPoint]

5. Who cans potato salad?????

I do canning and have never even seen a recipe. It would have to be canned in a pressure canner if done at home....based on the food product. Maybe they used a water bath method which is insufficient.....

I've never seen canned potato salad in a store either....and I live in Ohio.

[crim son]

6. The potatoes were canned, not the salad.

It's still unusual and yes, the water bath wouldn't be enough to limit the growth of dangerous organisms. Awful.

[Liberal Veteran]

7. It was just the potatoes that were canned, I think.

Not the whole salad.

You can buy canned potatoes in the store....but I guess they aren't a big seller because it is easy enough to just boil some yourself.

[jtuck004]

9. The problem comes when people think those are just boiled potatoes in a can, not

realizing they are cooked under pressure and to specs. Otherwise they are creating a little match.com in a can for botulism

[FarPoint]

10. Thank you for pointing this out....

Not sure if the home cook canned the potatoes or if they were commercial canned....either way...ya got to cook them!

Frightening facts you hear about but rarely see an outcome.

[LibertyLover]

22. I use canned whole potatoes

when I make stew. I love potatoes but loathe peeling them.

[magical thyme]

23. scrub them down good and leave the skins on. nt

[LibertyLover]

26. Thank you. If I was cooking just for me, I would - I like potato skins

but my husband and daughter can't stand them and won't eat potatoes with skins on them. So, the canned work nicely for the 3 or 4 times a winter I make stew.

[magical thyme]

32. in which case, they can make themselves useful and peel the potatoes...

and the grapes, too, while they're at it!

[LibertyLover]

33. BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sadly, my husband believes that such chores are beneath his manly dignity and if God had wanted him to peel potatoes, he would have invented instant mashed flakes.

[No Vested Interest]

8. AS soon as I heard of this botulism-tainted potluck

I felt so very sorry for the one who prepared the dish responsible for the illness.
Wonder if he/she was the one who died. - Tasting beforehand? eating leftovers after?
Hope all others recover soon, and order in a catered meal next time.

[hedgehog]

11. The area has a vigorous commmunity of actual family farms -

the county fair displays feature all kinds of canned vegetables, pickles and preserves. I guess someone just used the old family recipe.

[WinkyDink]

12. Another example of why I never, but never, buy at bake sales and the like.

[Frank Cannon]

13. It's always the potato salad.

For God's sake, stay away from potato salad, people.

[B2G]

17. Took the words right out of my mouth. lol.

[Aerows]

29. It just takes once

and then you realize why people are shunning potato salad. Good grief.

I'm with you - I do NOT eat potato salad anymore.

[PassingFair]

21. Sometimes....

It's the salmon mousse.

[Aerows]

28. Absolutely!

All it takes is once to get sick off of it, and NEVER EVER will you look at it with anything other than suspicion and distaste!

[snooper2]

15. But in the first thread all the canners were saying it was off-the-shelf sauce?

LOL...

facts are funny

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Yeah, the facts are a later recalled sauce was suspected in other OH botulism cases last summer.

Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2015, 04:05 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.fox19.com/story/26211594/two-cincinnati-residents-hospitalized-with-botulism-linked-to-recalled-california-sauces

(and no, I'm not the one who brought this up in the other thread just curious why you're getting LULZ from it now that a home canned product is implicated. )

[NickB79]

20. If it's not acidic, do NOT can it with the boiling water bath method

That's why tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salsa are such popular home-canned items: the natural acidity of the tomatoes inhibits microbial growth after the jars are immersed in boiling water for a short period of time. It's a very simple, almost foolproof method of food preservation.

However, pretty much all other vegetables (corn, green beans, potatoes, carrots, beets, etc) need a pressure canner to safely store, because they don't have any acidity in them.

And I mean a pressure CANNER. This is not the same as a pressure COOKER.

[LeftyMom]

24. And be suspicious of old recipes.

Food safety wasn't as well understood in grandma's day. Stick to recipes from the Ball book, your local extension office and other modern, trusted sources.

Oh, and a lot of recipes on blogs are questionable too. Some canning/preservation bloggers are safe and informed, but some of them are doing oven canning and other questionable methods.

[Aerows]

31. Or learn from someone

that did it for their whole life. Pressure canning is the way to go. Hot water bath method is iffy, at best.

[LeftyMom]

34. I learned from my grandmother, but she learned when God was a child.

She couldn't have taught me about the care and feeding of the new BPA free seals, for example. I use ingredients she never dreamed of and I need to know the requirements for those reasons.

We've figured a few things out since she taught me what she knew, and I'm safer for knowing those things.

Water bath canning is perfectly safe when done properly. Thus my suggestion to get a Ball canning bible FROM THIS CENTURY and look up tried and tested recipes and instructions.

[Aerows]

35. My grandmother learned when she was taking

care of God in swaddling clothes. She was canning along with my Aunt well into her 90's. You know you live around people that can when you are completely familiar with shelling peas, whether you wanted to or not LOL!

[herding cats]

25. That's it in a nutshell.

It as to have a pH of 4.5 or below to be low enough to inhibit the growth of botulism. That's why when we can even plain tomatoes the recipe calls for added lemon juice. Just to make sure it's in the safe zone for the water bath method.

I make homemade salsa, but it's pressure canned. Not all tomato dishes maintain the proper PH once you add the the other ingredients. Spaghetti sauce is another example of one which should be pressure canned even though it's mostly a tomato base.

[Aerows]

30. Exactly

My grandmother and my great-aunt taught me how to can, and pressure canning is the way to go. The water bath method only works for very specific things.

That said, potato salad - ick. Get sick off of it once, and you will never EVER eat it again. That and bad cole slaw. That's enough to give you the heebie-jeebies.

[Aerows]

27. Bad potato salad

Good Lord, you want to be sick?

You will want to do anything to keep from throwing up and having diarrhea.