BOTULISM AND HOME CANNING 7 



readily recognized by many physicians. It has been suggested that many cases 

 have not been recognized as such and hence have not been reported. The fact 

 that botulism is not a reportable disease in many states is another factor con- 

 tributing to a scarcity of information on the subject. 



About 1920, as a result of several serious outbreaks of botulism from com- 

 mercially canned foods, commercial canners realized the importance of botulism 

 as it afifected their industry and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to learn 

 proper methods of processing. According to Tanner (1934) the result is that 

 comm.ercially canned foods in the United States have not caused 'an outbreak 

 of botulism since 1925. On the other hand, home-canned foods cause numerous 

 outbreaks each year. 



In order to obtain a detailed picture of the outbreaks of botulism from home- 

 canned foods in the United States a survey of available information was made. 

 Data obtained from Geiger, Dickson and Meyer (1922), Tanner (1933), Meyer 

 (1943), the National Canner's Association, the Journal of the American Medical 

 Association, Public Health Reports, and other sources have been summarized 

 in Table 1. One hundred and seventy-five outbreaks of botulism from home- 

 canned foods which occurred from 1910 to 1944 are presented according to the 

 date, geographical location, number of cases and fatalities, and the product 

 involved. A few instances where poultry died from eating spoiled home-canned 

 foods are included although the literature contains many more such cases. These 

 175 outbreaks resulted in 553 cases with 385 fatalities — a case fatality rate of 

 approximately 70 percent. Although most such outbreaks have occurred in 

 the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain states there have been a number of 

 cases in the East. Few or no outbreaks have been reported from the areas 

 comprising the Mississippi Valley, the Southern and Southeastern States, and 

 the six New England States. It is interesting to speculate as to the reasons why 

 botulism has not been reported in these latter geographical regions, for available 

 technical information would indicate that the spores of the botulinus organism 

 may be found in all parts of the country. The following factors have been sug- 

 gested as possibly having a bearing on this situation: 



1. In the New England States cool storage conditions tend to retard the 

 growth of bacteria in home-canned foods. 



2. In the South the long cooking periods frequently employed in the prepara- 

 tion of foods for the table would be sufficient to destroy botulinus toxin if it 

 were present. 



3. In many cases foods which were not completely sterilized would contain 

 characteristic spoilage bacteria which would grow more rapidly and either 

 inhibit the growth of CI. botidinum or produce such obvious signs of spoilage in 

 the jar that the contents would not be eaten. This condition might be more 

 prevalent in the South where warm storage conditions would favor the growth 

 of spoilage bacteria if they were present. 



4. Botulism is not a reportable disease in many states and is not readily 

 identified and recognized by many persons unless they have had occasion to 

 become familiar with its characteristics and s^'mptoms. 



5. In many of the states with a well-organized home-canning program, great 

 stress is placed on cleanliness and "two hours from garden to jar." Such practices 

 would tend to keep the bacterial load of the product down to a minimum, elim- 

 inate the presence of decayed vegetables, and in general improve the effectiveness 

 of a given canning procedure. 



