BOTTLED VEGETABLES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 4 February 1944, Page 6

BOTTLED VEGETABLES

A 1 SIRA MAN IV A R NING The danger of bottling many vegefables on account of the risk of botulism, a comparatively rare disease in which the mortality rate was very high, was pointed out in the latest issue of the Medical .lournal of Australia. The journal stated, that the preservation of vegetables other than tomatoes or rhubarb by bottling at home was dangerous unless certain precautions were taken Vegetables could be infected with the organism Clostridium botulinum, and the spores were not destroyed by heating to the temperature of boiling water. In sealed bottles and tins containing non-acid products, such as vegetables and meats, the organism if present would produce a poison so powerful that the smallest taste of the infected contents might cause death. The journal pointed out that this warning did not apply to the bottling of fruits, tomatoes or rhubarb, which was quite safe. Home-bottled vegetables could be rendered safe, as the poison was destroyed by boiling for 10 minutes immediately before use. Vegetables could also be preserved safely by salting, dryirtg or pickling. An officer of the Health Department stated that there had been no known cases of botulism in New Zealand. The spores came out of the soil, and if they were in New Zealand soil it had not yet become evident. Cases of the disease had occurred in the United States, where bottled beans had been largely blamed for the trouble.