BOTTULISM POISONING- HOW CRITICAL IT IS?

Food poisoning by bacteria is occurring with sickening regularity in almost all parts of the world, though such incidences are more accurately documented in the western world. Whether it is the greater immunity enjoyed by the population in poorer countries against food-borne pathogenic infection or it is lack of proper documentation very few poisoning episodes are reported from these countries. It is but natural that many wealthy countries raise their guard against food poisoning through elaborate safety regimes with high tech diagnostic facilities put in place at great cost. Recently there was a food poisoning scare due to botulism, a rare occurrence these days when canning as a food preservation method is not practiced widely. Here are a few bits of information about the dangers posed by the dreaded bacteria Clostridium botulinum, an anaerobic organism found in improperly canned food products. 

"1. Food borne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxin and is often associated with home-canned foods that have been improperly processed. Ingesting botulism toxin can lead to illness within a few hours- to days. Food borne botulism is often caused from home-canned foods with low acid content such as asparagus, green beans, beets and corn.
2. Wound botulism is caused by toxin produced from a wound infected with the bacterium. Wound botulism can be prevented by promptly seeking medical care for infected wounds and by not using contaminated injectable drugs.
3. Infant botulism is caused by consuming the spores of the botulinum bacteria, which then grow in the intestines and release toxin. Honey can contain spores of the botulinum bacteria and has been a source of infection for infants. Children less than 12 months old should not be fed honey. Generally, honey is safe for people one year of age and older.


The classic symptoms of botulism include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. These are all symptoms of the muscle paralysis caused by the bacterial toxin. If untreated, these symptoms may progress to cause paralysis of the arms, legs, trunk and breathing muscles. In food borne botulism, symptoms generally begin 12 to 36 hours after eating a contaminated food, but they can occur as early as six hours or as late as 10 days later".

Food canning has survived in countries like the US in spite of many new technologies emerging during the last 3 decades. Canning is also practiced by many house holds under less than optimal conditions and most cases of botulism are reported from this sector. It is reported that in the US, on an average, about 145 cases of botulism occur each year but only 15 percent is due to ingestion of improper foods while 65 percent are infant botulism, rest being wound botulism. Recent studies in the US also indicate that outbreaks of food borne botulism involving two or more people occur almost every year and are usually caused by eating improperly processed home-canned foods. Utmost precaution against botulism whether food borne or from other sources is necessary to avoid unnecessary fatalities. In most developing countries more attention is focused on Clostridium tetani which causes a great number of infectious episodes through wounds, especially caused by rusted iron materials like nails, implements, knives etc.and many urban children are immunized against this infection during early days of their life. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

RETURN OF THE :"PRODIGAL"!-WELCOME TO CANNING TECHNOLOGY

With the advent of plastics, use of sanitary cans took a beating and as a technology for food preservation canning has been relegated to the background. One of the major reasons is the emergence of refrigeration at an affordable cost that can extend the life of many foods and the freezing technology can protect foods for months together with minimum hassle. Still from the food safety angle, canning still remains the safest technology if practiced scientifically. If at all it has to be criticized, the technology can be faulted for literally destroying the texture and flavor of products inside because of the high temperatures deployed for long times, especially in foods valued for their textural quality. The amenability of canning to low scale operation makes it suitable for home scale preservation and probably it is going to come back in this sector with a bang, if trends in some countries are any indication. With advances in material technology, better cans and bottles are available to day and kitchen gadgets that adore many households, canning can be a very simple operation, manageable at the house wife level.

"Almost a lost art, canning has come back in style as more people get into vegetable gardening. The interest in farmers markets and pick-your-own farms also fuels this trend as consumers want to preserve their own food. "Starting two years ago, we saw many more people coming to our classes," said Smith, a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Food Preserver, who teaches canning and other preservation techniques. "We saw attendance double, even triple or more. When we used to get 10 people, now we get 30 or 40 in a class." "The food safety issue and economics; that's driving the interest in canning," she said. "People want to know how to do it themselves." Smith experiments with different ways to keep her crop. Last summer, she tried pressure canning. She also made tomato leather. She's always perfecting her techniques. "I grew up watching my mom do it," Smith said. "I took some food classes in college and bought the 1970s version of the USDA guide. I did a little canning on my own." A dozen years ago, Smith became a Master Food Preserver, passing the rigorous certification needed to earn that title. Since her days as mother's helper, Smith discovered a lot has changed in the approach to processing tomatoes, she said. "Acidity; there's a lot more emphasis on how important that is to food safety," she explained. "Food needs to be processed a lot longer, too. That's why it's important to use up-to-date, reliable recipes."
The Master Food Preservers handle all sorts of fruit and vegetables, but processing tomatoes is always the No. 1 request. "Tomatoes are the biggest canned item," Smith said. "People have an abundance of tomatoes and they wonder: What do I do now?" As an alternative to canning, freezing works well, too, with tomatoes and tomato-based products such as pasta sauce. But, as Smith added, "You only have so much freezer space."

In a country like India tomato "gluts" are very common forcing the growers not even to harvest them because of unremunerative market price. For that matter vegetables and fruits can be easily preserved by house wives when ever there is a price crash and canned product also saves energy as it does not need severe cooking as being done in Indian kitchens. The restaurant sector which face serious problem of scarcity of vegetables during some or the other time in an year can resort to canning to build up reserves for use throughout the year. Of course, if government can modify its fiscal policies to remove taxes on cans and heat proof glass bottles, canning process can be a boon to the consumer as well as to the catering sector. Equipment manufacturers have to come up with innovative designs suitable for home scale sector and house wives will need some minimum training to avoid mishaps in the form of bottulism caused by Clostridium bottulinum bacteria. Similarly food scientists need to bring about minor modifications in the canning process, especially when low acid foods are canned to ensure absolute safety of finished products.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

PINE APPLE PROCESSING-THE ASIAN DOMINANCE

Pineapple is one of the very few fruits which improves its taste when thermally processed. Pineapple chunks, slices, tit bits and juice are the common products made by the canning industry. As the growing centers and consumption markets were separated by long distances, canning technology came handy for linking the two. How ever the fortunes of canning technology took a nose dive after the advent of aseptic bulk packing technology and to day it is a pale shadow of what it was during the better part of last century. As for fresh fruit, most consumers prefer to consume more exotic fruits like apple, plum, peach, strawberry, kiwi, mango etc rather than pineapple. However, established pineapple canning companies continue to operate mostly from Asian countries to cater to the demand that still exists to day.

"According to Food Market Exchange (www.foodmarketexchange.com), the list of "World Major Producers" of pineapple includes Dole Thailand Ltd., Del Monte Philippines Inc., Del Monte Kenya Ltd. and DOLEFIL, among dozens of major pineapple canning operations in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and across the tropical belt from Southeast Asia to Africa to Central and South America. The Food and Agricultural Organization (www.fao.org) reports the world's largest pineapple producers are Thailand (1.7 million metric tons in 2003), the Philippines (1.65 million m/t), Brazil (1.4 million m/t), China (1.32 million m/t) and India (1.1 million m/t)".

A shift away from canning may be needed to boost the fortunes of this tropical fruit. Rather than promoting pineapple singly, a more attractive option can be using the strong and stable flavor of the fruit to evolve new combination products with other fruits. Tetra pack juices have a high visibility to day and pineapple juice and beverages are also available in some markets. When pulp is to be supplied to the formulators, canned version is no more convenient and aseptic bulk filling using bag and box system has already established itself as a better option for many processors.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com