Botulism cases linked to potluck at Ohio church

[J-rap]

Getting back to the OP and botulism...  I've always heard you shouldn't get cans that are bulging at the grocery store, and I've paid attention to that all my life though have never seen a bulging can...  until last year, at my MIL's.  I went down to her pantry to get a can of some kind of vegetable (can't remember what), and the can was bulging so much, I'm surprised it hadn't burst.  It was probably very, very old.  I was afraid to even touch the can.

 

One of my best friend's mother died from food poisoning traced to a dish served at a church potluck.  They traced it to the hamburger meat not being cooked thoroughly, but in the end it turned into a major lawsuit that actually changed the way meat processing plants are cleaned and checked.  (The lawsuit was not with the family who cooked the meal, but with the meat processing plant.)

 

 

[mellifera33]

My grandparents home-canned food, and had a basement full of jars from 1-40 years old. My parents routinely went through the basement shelves and discreetly trashed the jars with bulging lids and unidentifiable contents. I'm lucky to have survived a childhood of green beans, beets, and tomatoes! 

News sources are now saying that the outbreak was traced to potato salad made from home-canned potatoes.

 

Color me ignorant, but why can potatoes? They are cheap in the stores, easy to get year round, and hard to grow yourself.

[Lady Marmalade]

News sources are now saying that the outbreak was traced to potato salad made from home-canned potatoes.

 

Color me ignorant, but why can potatoes? They are cheap in the stores, easy to get year round, and hard to grow yourself.

 

I have had zero success growing potatoes at home, but for those who are successful at growing  potatoes, canning them is one of few ways to preserve potatoes for year round use. 

 

However, they should be pressure canned, and realistically, I doubt I would like the texture of home-canned potatoes.  

 

Once properly pressure canned, the home canned potatoes STILL should be brought to a full boil immediately after opening.  I suspect since they were used in potato salad, they just opened the jar and used them cold.  

 

Making a mental note to just skip the canning of potatoes.

[Cinder]

Sorry, I know this is a serious topic but every time it pops back up on the front page I end up reading it as "Buddhism cases linked to potluck." 

 

:001_rolleyes:

[creekland]

 and hard to grow yourself.

 

Hard to grow?  Seriously?  I can't recall ever having problems.  I'd never think of putting them into a hard to grow category.

 

But we don't can anything.  We either freeze, dry, or don't bother preserving.  The nice potatoes we get we eat.  Those not so easy to peel (or whatever) we put in a dark bag and save to plant the next year.  They sprout in the bag, but they still do well growing the next year.

 

We end up buying potatoes for about half the year, but that's where I agree that they're cheap - far easier than canning - and I suspect I like the flavor/texture better of fresh.

[Lanny]

Foods need to be kept at the proper temperatures. That's why there are so many cases of food poisoning on cruise ships and in buffets.  There are certain foods that are extremely temperature sensitive.  "Arroz con Pollo" (rice and chicken) is a dish frequently served at events here and from time to time leads to disastrous results.  I enjoy eating that dish, but only in our house.  Mayonnaise is extremely temperature sensitive. In 1991 I ordered  a Club House Sandwich in the Snack bar of my hotel in Venezuela. About 12 hours later, I was violently ill.   I went to the E.R. and the young doctor who took care of me, after hours in the E.R., checked me in.  I had an I.V. in me for about 24-30 hours.  Had she let me out of the E.R. to go back to my hotel, I might not have survived that experience.  

[J'swife]

People can foods for convenience, freezing things takes time & planning to use, canned items can just be opened and used.  Canning potatoes correctly is safe, there is a pretty good chance that they were improperly canned.   Following safe guidelines is a must for home canning.  The temperature of the food would have made no difference in this case.

[PeterPan]

I enjoy canning tomatoes, but I add citric acid to every quart, per instructions.  You do it instead of lemon juice.  It's faster and cheaper, just a $3 bottle that goes a long way.  Add Acid to Tomatoes When Canning - Food Safety and ...

 

And no, I wouldn't can tomatoes.  That would be totally fraught with problems.  If your chunks were thicker than instructions said, your time wouldn't be enough to get everything cooked through and to temp.  Yuck, yuck.  I used to can meat and I don't anymore.  Some things are just better fresh.

[creekland]

People can foods for convenience, freezing things takes time & planning to use, canned items can just be opened and used.  Canning potatoes correctly is safe, there is a pretty good chance that they were improperly canned.   Following safe guidelines is a must for home canning.  The temperature of the food would have made no difference in this case.

 

I have no problem with people canning foods if they choose.  Freezing foods takes us far less time as blanching, except for beets, is super quick often just 1 - 3 minutes.

 

Our microwave is super good at thawing them when we want to use them IF they even need to be thawed.  Veggies just being consumed for supper need only be cooked.  Again, this is quick.  When using in a crockpot, frozen veggies can be put in just fine.  ;)

 

I'm not fond of how "overcooked" many veggies (like beans or peas) get when they are canned, but that's just a personal preference of course.