Chilli Sauce in the 'Hot' Seat over Botulism
After nearly forty years of poison-free food processing, botulism has been detected in commercially canned foods manufactured in Augusta. The botulism has been found in some hot dog chili sauce.
Following the hospitalization of two children in Texas and of a couple in Indiana with botulism, toward the end of June and the start of July, the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday warned all customers to avoid using10-oz cans of Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce as well as Austex and Kroger brands of Hot Dog Chili Sauce besides other products from Castleberry's Food Companies, as they may carry the risk of botulism.
All four victims are said to have eaten Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce a day previous to when they went down with the poisoning.
In the meantime Federal and state investigations are being carried on to confirm the source of the Botulism.
Castleberry's Food Company has announced its voluntarily recall of certain products. SVP Technical Services/Quality Assurance for Castleberry's Steve Mavity announced, “We are taking this precautionary measure to ensure the safety of our consumers. We will continue to work closely with the FDA, USDA, and CDC."
The products affected by the recall carry codes start with the letters U-P-C, which are followed by 10 digits. The lids are marked with "best by" dates from April 30, 2009 through May 22, 2009
Castleberry's senior vice president of marketing, Dave Melbourne states that the recall includes all products processed between April 30 and May 22 on a cooker that wasn't working properly. The cooker, known as a retort, was said to be dropping cans into cooling water while they were still very hot. The company did follow standard operating procedures and checked the products before distributing them.
"Everything came back confirming the product was safe and fine," Melbourne is quoted as saying. "We haven't confirmed that is in fact the issue, but that's something we're digging deeper into, because it coincides with this particular date."
Thanks to strict regulations concerning the processing of food, Botulism is not very common in America today. There are less than 30 incidences of food poisoning through botulism every year and these are most often associated with home canning.
The disease, however, when contracted, is fatal in about 8% of the cases. It paralyzes the victim who has to be hospitalized for months.
Symptoms of poisoning from botulism include general weakness, difficulty in breathing drooping eyelids, trouble with speaking or swallowing double vision, dizziness, and abdominal distention and constipation. Botulism poisoning eventually leads to paralysis of the breathing muscles which can be fatal unless mechanical ventilation is provided.
People experiencing these symptoms should consult a doctor immediately especially if they may have recently eaten the products in question.
The state epidemiologist, Dr. Susan Lance, underscores the seriousness of the situation when she says, "We consider botulism to be a public health emergency. It can be so serious and affect so many people, especially if a commercial product is involved."
Director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia in Griffin, Michael Doyle, explains that in order to prevent toxins from forming in food canned goods are heated during processing and bacteria spores are thus killed. When not processed correctly, though, some spores could survive. A canned product stored at room temperature, would then be the right situation for such spores to produce toxins.
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