In article ,
Malcolm wrote:

The danger with high-protein, non-acid foods, such as fish and meat
is that mere boiling point is not enough to destroy Clostridium
botulinum spores. If one then germinates, the toxin will build
up, and the sealed food can then be lethal. Yes, it happens.

This is scaremongering, based on nothing at all, it would seem.

According to the NHS website, there were just 33 recorded cases of
food-borne botulism in England and Wales in the 30 years from 1980 and
2010, and 26 of those were linked to a single outbreak in 1989 caused by
contaminated hazelnut yoghurt.

Sigh. And just how many people in the UK bottle meat, fish and
other such high-protein, non-acid foods in Kilner jars? Almost
everyone has better sense than to do that, because there are much
better ways.

Clearly not, judging by this thread. I also note the absence of any
evidence to back up your blatant scaremongering about botulism,
including "it happens", which I note you have snipped, presumably so you
can avoid having to respond to my request to demonstrate that it
referred to Kilner jars.

You really do seem to be being deliberately foolish. I snipped that
paragraph because it was not relevant. I never said that it happens
in the UK, AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS that nobody or almost nobody
bottles the sort of foods where it is likely. It is simply not a
traditional UK mode for the preservation of such foods. We almost
always pickle, cure or otherwise treat such foods, either instead or
as well, and that prevents the issue. But it IS used in some other
countries.

It might have escaped you, but there are many serious risks that do
not cause trouble because people simply avoid the prerequites for
them. To claim that proves they aren't risks when the prerequisites
are present is arrant stupidity, at best. There aren't any people
killed by the UK's populations of crocodiles, for example, but that
doesn't mean that they are safe to swim with.

What I was doing was warning people against bottling HIGH-PROTEIN,
NON-ACID FOODS SUCH AS MEAT AND FISH using only unpressurised boiling
point. If you bother to look up the real scientific and medical
references, you will see why that is.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.