Injury Law Report

What is Botulism?

The bacterium called Clostridium botulinum produces a deadly nerve toxin that can cause a rare but deadly injury or illness characterized by paralysis. There are 3 main kinds of botulism.

·          Foodborne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin.

·          Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with Clostridium botulinum.

·          Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. All forms of botulism can be deadly and are considered medical emergencies.

How Do You Get Botulism

Let’s take the most common way of contracting botulism --- contamination through the food suply. Foodborne botulism can be especially dangerous because many people can be poisoned by eating a contaminated food.

§         What food? Generally, the harmful bacteria thrive and produce the toxin in environments with little oxygen, such as in canned food. Home-canned foods that are low in acid, such as green beans, corn and beets, and canned meat and fish, are most often the source of food-borne botulism.

§         How does botulism get into my food? Poor hygiene during the canning process, and food otherwise being contaminated during preparation are the most likely ways that this deadly bacteria can get into food.