Mostly right. Clostridium Botulinum is fairly easy to kill in its live form, but the spores are much more hearty. Just roasting garlic may or may not be enough to kill the spores, depending on their presence and level of infiltration (i.e. the internal temp of a roasted garlic clove may not reach 212F, and you have to hold 212 for a ***really*** long time to sufficently reduce spore survivability). Most efforts focus on prevention by creating an enviroment non-conducive for spore germination. This is done removing water (i.e. dried herbs and garlic should be fine in oil at room temp, fresh herbs and garlic not so much), controling temp, and by creating an acidic environment (you can also introduce oxygen to produce an aerobic environment, but this is unreliable; see atmosphere reference in first link listed below). Second best is preservation by temperature or chemicals (canning, nitrites, etc). After looking into the entire botulism issue when I started canning, the best primary source info I have found (i.e. not just copying and repeating info from other guides) is this pdf created for the New Zealand Ministry Of Health, giving a good two page botulism overview, and this pdf from the USDA Food Safety And Inspection Service, a more detailed explanation of D-rates and Z-rates, how temperature processing guidelines are developed, etc. Of course, it's never bad to err on the side of caution when it comes to Clostridium Botulinum, given the fact that its toxin is one of the most poisonous things known to man, but it's also good to know exactly how and why the guidelines are what they are so one can make an educated decision. -B
