**********WARNING*****************
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ALERT
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Botulism
Botulism is food poisoning caused by the toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulism. The toxin is extremely dangerous as it affects the nervous system and is often fatal. Botulism is usually found in low-acid, canned foods such as canned meat and seafood, smoked and processed fish. Botulism can be prevented by cooking to destroy the toxins, proper refrigeration and sanitation. Canned foods which show evidence of swelling should not be eaten. The illness causing toxin can be inactivated by cooking for 15 minutes at 185ºF.
Staphylococcal Food Poisoning
The bacteria Staphylococcus aureus produces enterotoxin which causes gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestinal linings) and can also affect the nervous system. Although unpleasant, this type of food poisoning rarely results in death. Staphylococcal food poisoning is one of the most common foodborne illnesses in the United States. Foods most commonly affected by this type of bacteria are cream and custard filled pastries, potato salad, dairy products, and cooked meats (especially ham and poultry).
These bacteria can reproduce to very large numbers without changing the color, flavor, or smell of the food. Growth rate of Staphylococcus aureus is highest at temperatures above 68 ºF and in foods with little acidity. While the bacteria are easily destroyed by heat (151ºF for 12 minutes), the illness causing toxins produced by the bacteria are much more difficult to destroy (250 ºF for 30 minutes). This type of food poisoning can be prevented by pasteurization of susceptible foods, refrigeration, and sanitation.
Clostridium perfringens Food Infection
This type of food infection is caused by an anaerobic spore forming bacteria that produces toxins and large amounts of gas during growth. While the bacteria is found in many foods, large amounts of it must be eaten for this type of food infection to occur. At greatest risk for growth of this type of bacteria are meat products which are cooked, allowed to cool slowly, and held for an extended period before serving.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dawn
Der, her, her!
2 - Eric Olsen
very fine phonetic rendering of "that isn't very funny"
3 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
hhhhhhhhhahahahahahahahah
man, it took me a time to get that right there, but it was worth it. what a gloriously simple kick in the funny-guts.
4 - Lisa McKay
Vacation has clearly done you a world of good.
5 - Eric Berlin
EO the Trixter...
All need now be on Alert...
6 - Lisa
Crap, now what will I make for dinner?
7 - DrPat
Goodness, Eric, I hope this wasn't prompted by a personal experience! As someone blessed with an iron stomach (as long as I don't put anything corrosive into it, I'm okay...), I rarely think about all the ways our food can go wrong.
Pass the chicken and potato salad, please!
8 - Temple Stark
and the vindaloo and onion bajis
Lisa :-)
9 - Eric Olsen
no recent personal experience, anyway: it was prompted by coming back to the site after a week and seeing a vast number of comments and posts prefaced by SPOILER ALERT
10 - Bennett
Good one EO!
Just this morning I pulled a roast out of the fridge that had been marinating in garlic and a cool garlic black bean sauce for.... I forget, a week or so? It's been too damn hot to use the oven so I kept putting it off.
Anyway, I go to sear the sucker (seersucker?) and notice that it's a touch on the slimy side. Smells a little bit *odd* too.
WTF, I'm cooking it so anything on it will die. So I sear it and stick it on a rack in the oven.
After pulling it from the oven I take a quick sniff or two... Hmmmm.... What does the nose know?
It knows the dog eats good tonight!
Especially after reading your tricksy post.
11 - Eric Olsen
thanks Bennett, very glad my nonsense served an actual purpose!
12 - Natalie Davis
OMG, I needed a big laugh, and this provided it. Thanks, Eric!
13 - Eric Olsen
thank you Nat! much appreciated
14 - Mark Sahm
Very funny EO. I now have some semblance of what caused my food poisoning last month when I ate a Burger King chicken sandwich.
15 - Eric Olsen
thanks Mark, very pleased to be amusing AND informative!
16 - Victor Lana
Eric,
This clearly reminds me why I NEVER buy hotdogs (or anything else for that matter) from the vendors in Manhattan. Now, heading to the closet to look for swelling cans.
Thanks!
Vic
17 - Mark Sahm
Victor, the Burger King that dealt the killshot to my insides was on 5th Ave off 37th. Beware.
18 - Jones Violet
Hilarious..though...I don't think I want to eat anything for a while now.
Now, excuse me while I examine the contents of the kitchen verrrry caerfully!
19 - Eric Olsen
most vicious assaults on my innards were an awards banquet in college (you are hereby honored, now disengorge for 24 hours), and a San Antonio taco place on my first honeymoon - the memories cause my intestines to clench
20 - Mark Sahm
There's nothing quite like seeing the bathroom porcelain and tile from an ant's view, eh Eric?
21 - Eric Olsen
especially on your honeymoon
22 - Dawn
Had you carefully paid attention to that omen Eric, you would have been spared years of torment and hell, and could been married to ME that much longer.
If only men weren't so clueless about the subtle hints from God.
23 - Nancy
Ah, sometimes it pays to be a vegetarian. Much less risk of lentils gone bad. Good post, Eric; you got everyone looking & thinking.
24 - Eric Olsen
good point Nancy, and I agree that may well have been an omen Dawn, but at the time of my honeymoon dyspepsia you were 12
25 - Dawn
Ahh well, 12, yeah, that is pretty gross - I don't think I would have found you that attractive then. Well attractive perhaps, but not "attracted". Point noted!