Can anyone explain what Botchulisim is, and how it can be associated with BBQ?
I know if you use curing salt or keep your BBQ above 140 degrees you will stay out of the "Danger Zone", but I don't understand how all this comes together.
Thanks

Any specific reason you ask?

Don't have my weblinks or I'd send you to the FSIS (Food Safety and Information Service) site for details.

Botulism is a bacteria not specifically associated with BBQ but can be food borne.

I know some of our caterers and other Food Safety Guru's will jump in, but here's my 2 cents.


Here's a "medical" definition:
Definition of Botulism

What I've heard/been told/rumors are that the toxin is affected by heat and killed somewhere around 140 - 145 degrees, thus "the Danger Zone"

But it's not the only but to worry about and that's why cold smoking or smoking below 140 is very risky if you don't control everything very well.

Questions?

Don't have my food safety book handy, but here goes anyway.

I believe the Botulism bacteria is anaerobic (does not require oxygen) and is usually associated with poorly canned foods and possibly vacuum packed foods. No real association with BBQ per say.

The danger zone refers to the temp at which micro organism/bacteria and their associated toxins multiply rapidly and is usually recognized as food temps between 42F and 139F. Food should not be kept at these temperatures for an extended period of time. 41 and below is refridgeration and 140 and above is a good holding temp. While all bacteria are susceptible to heat, some toxins are not, so you want to minimize their formation in the first place by keeping food out of the danger zone. Reheating to 165F will not necessary make your food safe if it is already full of heat resistant toxins.

yep it is for sure anaerobic as rootsman points out but what a lot of people forget it can also come from things that are grown in the ground like potatoes. one of the worst outbreaks of this was caused by baked potatoes that were cooked wrapped in foil and then held in a fodd warmer that was running well below 141f. they were chilled (still wrapped in the foil) and reheated in the same below temp warmer. as i remember the final death toll was 15 but i forget how many were hospitalized for long periods of time.
the key is low temp and no oxygen.
jack

Didn't your mom tell you to never buy dented cans:

quote:

The foods most commonly contaminated are home-canned vegetables, cured pork and ham, smoked or raw fish, and honey or corn syrup. Botulism may also occur if the organism enters open wounds and produces toxin there.

Always discard bulging cans or off-smelling preserved foods. Sterilize home canned foods by pressure cooking at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Thanks for the replies everyone!
Here is why I asked this question.
My friends brother-in-law was at the sportsman show selling Treager BBQs and also BBQ. One of the other BBQ caterers at the show came to the booth and noticed he was BBQing below 140 degrees and confronted him and said that he was going to get everyone sick with botulisim. How true is this story I'm not sure, maybe his guage was broken I don't know.
My friend has a treager and I have a smokette and we are always debating whos machine is best.
On this last round we were discussing the almighty dredded "Danger Zone" so I decided to ask all you pros in the cookshack forum!!!
Thank-you all for a great forum, it has helped me with all my BBQ success!

Good story, just sounds like a caterer who's been hounded by the health inspector once too often. But if I was a caterer, I'd be sensitive also -- it's called a law suit if they get sick.

Could you get sick from food cooked below 140?

Yes.

Would it be botulism? No, probably not unless your food is from a contamined as we detailed above. But there are plenty of other food borne criters to worry about. Hey shouldn't have said botulism, but you could have just said sick.

The answer would be "...well I've applied a cure to this product so that it can safely be cold smoked in the danger zone...you know like ham is. But you would know that if you knew anything about..."

Glad to be of service.

Russ

As Rootsman and Prisonchef said, botulism is anaerobic meaning it is most likely to develop in oxygen free or oxygen deprived sources. As indicated by Smokin, that is not likely to be the case with BBQ because there is plenty of oxygen.

However, like Smokin sez, there are a whole host of other nasties that could develop such as salmonella which seems to occur more in dairy, fish and poultry. Beef and pork have their nasties as well, just can't think of the names off hand.

Cooking at 140 is pretty risky, holding at 140 after something is fully cooked is not so unusual. But the key is the temp of the food, not the temp of the oven or cooker.

Just remember it as BOTTLE-ism .

And if you are holding something at 140' you might just want to bump it up to be 145'-150' just as easy.