[NRA2BFree]

We seldom had these problems when we grew and packaged our own food in America. Gone are the days that the only thing we had to worry about were calories in our food....

'Ain't globalism grand? < / sarcasm >

[SengirV]

U. S. health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain brands of French Cut Green Beans in 14.5 ounce cans manufactured by Lakeside Foods Inc, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin because the product may not have been processed adequately to eliminate the potential for botulism toxin.

When did Wisconsin secede from the Union?

[Strategerist]

And in the article it indicated the green beans were grown or packaged outside the country where, exactly?

Not that how food is grown has anything whatsoever to do with botulism.

[Spruce]

Green bean hotdish with fake fired onions on top hit hardest.

[Billthedrill]

Actually we did have this particular one. Botulism is often found in canned meat but of the vegetables green beans are probably its most common substrate. It's a soil bacterium (C. botulinum) and you only have the problem in a can (or jar) with enough of a leak to provide just a little oxygen - a "microaerophilic" environment. That activates the spores and the resulting microorganisms product the toxin.

This has been around since people started to preserve veggies. My grandmother lost some friends to it in her childhood in Illinois in the early part of last century.

[vetvetdoug]

Hard swellers, flippers, and seam defects will be a hint that there may be some botulism in the product. Canned green beans historically with their neutral pH have been a real good source of botulism poisoning. Home canned green beans used to be a real dangerous source of botulism. Canning is actually safer today than it has ever been; catching the imperfects is also better and is why we’ve had recalls.

[Syncro]

I’ve been eating green beans almost every day for a month or so and will continue to do so as long as my garden keeps pumping them out.

I got a rockin’ bean stalk! And a bunch of bush beans.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

I am going to ask an incredibly dumb question...I understand that canned green beans are in question here...but I would like to ask (as we eat alot of green beans here—yes, the dreaded gb casserole) are frozen beans ever a botulism risk (as we have both Food Club and ShopNSave brands on hand)? Does freezing kill off botulism?

[lilylangtree]

I’m forwarding to a number of non-freepers. This needs media coverage. Luckily, I’ve checked my french-style green bean can cover.

[shield]

Boy, am I glad I stopped eating canned foods a number of yrs ago.

[AuntB]

Know what? It’s starting to get expensive throwing all this food out. Isn’t ANYONE in business to provide a good service/product anymore. They all way too worried about the bottom line at our expense and it’s gettin’ old!

Cheap imports..bah.

[Eva]

# 1992 Botulism in whitefish in New Jersey. Four members of a Fort Lee family have been stricken with botulism after eating fish bought in Jersey City. [17]

# 1985 Botulism at two Whitespot restaurants in Vancouver, British Columbia in two separate incidents when chopped garlic stored in soybean oil caused outbreaks. CDC

# 1983 Botulism (Type A Clostridium Botulinum) in Peoria, Illinois. 28 persons were hospitalized, and 20 patients were treated with an antitoxin. 12 patients required ventilatory support and 1 death resulted. The source was sauteed onions made from fresh raw onions served on a patty melt sandwich. The sandwiches were served at the Skewer Inn Restaurant located inside Northwoods Mall.[20]

# 1971 Botulism in vichyssoise manufactured by Bon Vivant, Inc. of Newark, New Jersey. On July 2, 1971 FDA released a public warning after learning that a New York man had died and his wife had become seriously ill due to botulism after eating a can of Bon Vivant vichyssoise soup. The company commenced a recall of the 6,444 cans of vichyssoise soup made in the same batch as the can known to be contaminated. The FDA soon discovered that the company’s processing practices raised questions not only about the lots of the vichyssoise, but also about all other products packed by the company. The effectiveness check of the recall had revealed a number of swollen or otherwise suspect cans among Bon Vivant’s other products, so FDA extended the recall to include all Bon Vivant products. The FDA shut down the company’s Newark, New Jersey plant on July 7, 1971. Although only five cans of Bon Vivant soup were found to be contaminated with the botulin toxin, all in the initial batch of vichyssoise recalled and part of the first 324 cans tested. The ordeal destroyed public confidence in the company’s products and the Bon Vivant name. Bon Vivant filed for bankruptcy within a month of the announcement of the recall. [22]