Recent Botulism "outbreak" in Calif!

[Midnightmom]

This highlights the importance of following proper procedures

 

Did you know that botulism can present as a "stroke?"

This may be why it "appears" to have been eliminated. But has it???
 

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Today, we're diving into a serious and alarming topic: a botulism outbreak in Fresno County linked to unsafe canning practices. Botulism, a rare but potentially fatal illness, is caused by toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. This outbreak has resulted in several tragic deaths, highlighting the deadly consequences of improper canning methods. Stay tuned as we explore the details of this outbreak, the dangers of botulism, and how you can ensure your canning practices are safe and effective.

 

 

WITH A BOTULISM OUTBREAK IN FRESNO COUNTY, HEALTH DEPARTMENT URGES RESIDENTS TO PRACTICE SAFE FOOD HANDLING

https://thebusinessjournal.com/with-a-botulism-outbreak-in-fresno-county-health-department-urges-residents-to-practice-safe-food-handling/

 

Fresno County investigating suspected botulism outbreak

https://sjvsun.com/news/fresno/fresno-county-investigating-suspected-botulism-outbreak/

 

Botulism outbreak in California linked to family events and homemade food

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/06/botulism-outbreak-in-california-linked-to-family-events-and-homemade-food/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeepers]

 

I'm glad she finally stopped teaching unsafe canning methods. Not long ago she was doing what she is accusing others of doing. Thank goodness Rose Red entered the canning scene. That's when she pulled a ton of her videos. That's my little rant about Leisa. 

 

But she is right. I'm seeing all kinds of unsafe videos out there. She is basically talking about one very popular channel that touts "Amish" canning. I do know that a lot of Amish still do water bath everything. Mainly the Swartzentruber and Nebraska Amish. Anyway, that channel is called make it make. (makeitmake). She says she gets her canning info from her Amish friend and neighbor, (who waterbaths everything) and has instructions on how to do a lot of it. To her credit though, she will occasionally use a pressure canner. More often lately. 

 

I'm also seeing a lot of canning books with unsafe canning methods. Some are obviously written by non-English speakers. You can tell by the grammar that is used in the translation or by using the metric system interchangeably with ihe imperial system in their recipes. 

 

Botulism is also found in many other areas too. One of the most common is in soil. That's why it is so important to wash your fruit and especially veggies very well and to peel all root veggies. I really want to can some whole new potatoes but something keeps stopping me. 

 

I will say that I do can properly...most of the time. The only rebel canning I do is to recan huge cans of products into smaller jars. Nearly all of my tomato products start with #10 cans of tomatoes. But I do recan properly. 

 

Having said that, even though I properly can meat and veggies, I still worry about feeding them to my family. It's a huge responsibility. I would never forgive myself if I caused harm to someone else. Especially to my grandson. One bad jar and... 

 

Just out of curiosity I'd like to know what the food was that caused it. 

 

There was a big expo in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. I didn't go but I saw a home video of some of it. One of the presenters was doing canning. She was telling about how to can milk. Get your canner up to a certain pressure, immediately turn the canner off, let it come to room temp before you remove the lid. Letting the milk cool down slowly like that was enough for me to know it was unsafe. But there she was teaching it. And it's on the internet now. I think she has a YouTube channel. I'll have to look and see. 

 

Thanks for the timely reminder during this canning season. I think we all need to take a step back and take stock in ourself and make sure that what we are doing is truly safe for ourselves and for our families. Me included! 

 

Dang, I hope I washed all of that asparagus really well. 

 

[Midnightmom]

2 hours ago, Jeepers said:

I'm glad she finally stopped teaching unsafe canning methods. Not long ago she was doing what she is accusing others of doing. Thank goodness Rose Red entered the canning scene. That's when she pulled a ton of her videos. That's my little rant about Leisa. 

 

She made a video about that. I'll try to find it.

 

Basically, she said that seeing all of the bad advice etc that became prevelant during the years of social distancing, changed her perspective and changed her mind about "rebel" canning, so now she teaches and promotes only approved methods. She has also gone back into her archives and pulled a lot of those older videos due to this change in her perspective.

 

"Amish" canning will never be able to get the food in the jars into the "kill zone." You can boil a jar for one hour or for ten hours, but the heat inside of the jar will never rise above the boiling point and be able to kill any B spores. (Plus, it is very energy ineffecient. Can you imagine how much wood or propane, etc, it would take to keep a canner full of jars boiling for that amount of time???

 

And "dry canning" potaoes (to avoid them becoming soft/starchy) is not safe either because you need the water to totally surround all of the potatoes in the jar to properly conduct the heat and ensure that all of the 'taters' reach the correct temp for the right amount of time.

 

And, despite what some of the more popular channels say, you cannot can ghee to become shelf stable.

 

 

[Jeepers]

If it's the one I remember, it was because someone called her out for her corned beef that she canned and still had up. 

 

She recently put out a video about FEMA camps. She believes the government will never come to our door looking for supplies. I hope she is right. 

 

But she also said she has a wood chipper and pigs. Yikes.  

[Midnightmom]

49 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

She recently put out a video about FEMA camps. She believes the government will never come to our door looking for supplies. I hope she is right. 

 

But she also said she has a wood chipper and pigs. Yikes.  

 

It wasn't about FEMA Camps, but about FEMA coming to confiscate your preps. She said they aren't organized enough or big enough to get everyone's preps. (IMO, they might drag you away from your preps, but they won't take your food.)

 

The 'wood chipper and pigs' comment was about your neighbors coming to steal your food, not the Feds.   I have a feeling that comment would fly over the heads of most people, especially those neighbors she is worried about! But, it wasn't intended for them anyway. 

 

[Jeepers]

Yes I know. It was about what she would do if people came knocking on her door. The wood chipper comment is in reference to the movie Fargo. And also about two brothers who put bodies through a wood chipper and fed the remains to the hogs. It happened in her home state about 2 years ago. True story or not? Who knows, but what is true is a farmer in Canada who killed many women via a wood chipper and fed them to his pigs. So it wasn't a flippant remark. 

[Midnightmom]

1 hour ago, Jeepers said:

So it wasn't a flippant remark.

I know.

[Midnightmom]

Source of the botulism outbreak was discovered:

 

The culprit in the outbreak? Home-canned nopales, or cactus pads.

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2 California sisters in ICU with botulism amid outbreak traced to home-canned nopales

A family gathering led to 10 hospitalizations due to botulism, a rare illness that can arise from improperly processed or stored canned foods.

 

Two sisters are currently recovering in intensive care, a spokesperson for the Fresno County Department of Public Health told NBC News. One sister underwent a tracheostomy, a procedure to create a breathing tube in the neck, due to respiratory complications caused by the disease.

 

The eight other hospitalized individuals have been released, and there have been no new reported cases since.

 

Initially, the first two people who felt sick after the party were diagnosed with vertigo and sent home from the hospital, said Sanchez. It was only after a full-scale investigation, which included examining the family's trash and interviewing party attendees, that the botulism was traced back to the home-canned nopales.

 

Dr. Vohra emphasized that while botulism is a very serious and potentially fatal condition, most people who contract it can make a full recovery. (Comment: Assuming, of course, that they are properly diagnosed and not sent home!) 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-california-sisters-icu-botulism-outbreak-traced-home-canned-nopales-rcna160484

 

 

[Jeepers]

Thanks for the update. 

I had to look up  N o p a l e s. 

 

Sorry I had to type it that way as autocorrect kept putting morales. That us a real shame about those people.