Garlic in Olive Oil Safety

[pbear]

Do ya'll realize that, per the CDC's annual botulism surveillance reports, there has only been one case linked to garlic-in-oil in the past fifteen years?  And that one is presumed but not confirmed, as no product remained to be tested.

[Lisa Shock]

And a hundred years ago, it was very common cause of death, like lead poisoning, or typhus. Massive public health awareness campaigns, food safety legislation, improved home refrigeration & sanitation, and a decline in homemade/homecanned food consumption have brought a dramatic decrease in deaths. Vigilance brought results. Just because most living Americans have never seen a person die from botulism doesn't mean we should stop taking precautions against it.

[gfweb]

Ruhlman is wrong about food safety. He essentially denies that bacteria will grow in warm food, or long term in the fridge. And yet he lives, because the low probability problem hasn't come up.  Yet.

[Lisa Shock]

Moisture, a lack of oxygen, garlic, plus extra cheese as a food source (little nasties generally thrive on protein) does seem like a recipe for trouble. I like to make pesto and use it up on the first day because I get creeped out by old basil bits. I will freeze leftovers to use in sauces. I think you're on target here, a week in the fridge should be ok, I would worry about any longer than that -unless you add an acid like lemon juice.

 

Honestly, basil is a delicate herb. Four weeks seems like a long time for it after it's chopped -to me. I'd be worried about the basil's deterioration in addition to the growth of botulism.

[andiesenji]

And a hundred years ago, it was very common cause of death, like lead poisoning, or typhus. Massive public health awareness campaigns, food safety legislation, improved home refrigeration & sanitation, and a decline in homemade/homecanned food consumption have brought a dramatic decrease in deaths. Vigilance brought results. Just because most living Americans have never seen a person die from botulism doesn't mean we should stop taking precautions against it.

Exactly!  This happened just this year in Ohio.  When I was a child in western Kentucky, an entire family became sick and some died, from eating home-canned corn.  

It was fairly common back then, the Farm Bureau put out bulletins about canning safety every year when canning season came around.  And the traveling vendors - The Jewel Tea man - or the Watkins man - would also have cards they gave away with advice about safety in canning.

[BadRabbit]

Not sure what else to do about this. The publisher went ahead and published the book as is. I've published a review on Amazon with my concerns but that's certainly not going to do much. 

 

Completely irresponsible on the publishers part.

[Lisa Shock]

I guess the publisher will learn the hard way, via personal injury lawsuits, if some unfortunate person follows the instructions and causes an outbreak of botulism. Of course that's small comfort to anyone disabled or killed by it.

[blue_dolphin]

That's really disappointing, BadRabbit.  It's one thing to be aware of the risks and decide to accept them and go forward with a risky method, as many have chosen to do,  but this really misses the opportunity to allow readers to make an educated choice.  A pity.