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Garlic in Oil and Botulism?
Marla wrote:
>News 03/06/1989
>Chopped Garlic in Oil Mixes
>Food and Drug Administration
>
> The Food and Drug Administration today warned that consumers may
risk
>potentially fatal botulism food poisoning from some commercial and
>homemade chopped garlic-and-oil mixes if they are left at room
temperature
>instead of refrigerated. The warning follows an investigation of three
>hospitalizations in New York after use of such a product.
> The labels of non-preserved commercial products call for
>refrigeration, and FDA emphasized this means refrigeration from
>manufacturing to consumption. In particular, garlic-and-oil mixes
>containing little or no acidifying agent such as phosphoric or citric
acid
>should be kept refrigerated at all times, FDA stressed.
>Marla Rhodes
>Northeast Food System Partnership
>Information and Outreach Coordinator
>617-627-5481
>mrhodes1@emerald.tufts.edu
Hi Marla. Thanks for sharing this info. Do you know what "non-preserved"
means? I'm not clear on that. Does it mean uncooked, or under-cooked?
Aren't commercial canned foods cooked, except those in vinegar, or the
like? This report doesn't seem to show that any home-made raw garlic and
oil mixes have resulted in botulism, only commercial ones, and I thought
most commercial canned foods were cooked. That's an important
distinction, because raw garlic is supposed to kill bacteria and fungi,
and "botulism" is one of those, I believe. That means raw garlic in oil
should be safe, unless it doesn't kill "botulism". This doesn't mention
any scientific study, so I don't know exactly what this means. You're
obviously showing support for Dori's previous statement about the danger
of garlic in oil, which is fine with me. She was concerned that what I
had shared previously about blending garlic in olive oil as an emergency
herb might lead someone to get botulism. I had pointed out that this
remedy was from herbalist doctor Richard Schulze, who recommended it as
an emergency herb, and I later mentioned that it's possible I didn't
include all of what Dr. Schulze had said about it, but I don't think he
mentioned any danger from it. And if raw garlic is indeed anti-bacterial
and anti-fungal, I'm still not sure there is a danger with it raw. If
anyone wants to show clear evidence that raw garlic can lead to
botulism, please do so. The botulism I've heard about so far has always
been from canned foods. Dr. Schulze and journalist Sam Biser are
connected with the University of Natural Healing in Virginia. I wonder
if they can be contacted on the internet. Aloha. Lloyd
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