The New York herald., 1920-01-25
WARNS OF POISON
IN SPOILED FOOD
BotuliSmuS Cause of "Olive
Deaths" First Appeared
in 1885.
CAUSED BY BAD CANNING
Dr. Houghton WaTns Housewives To
Be Gareful i'll Preserving
Vegetables.
CAUSED BY BAD CANNING
by DIR. HARRIS 4. Be'uGHToN.

1t is quite probable that the average|
"iaynan." TO use a term common amongl
physicians, was quite ignori nt until this
last week that "A most viiplent poison
could generate in canned vegetables,
which would be tasteless and almost coll
orless, and that this toxin could kill
within from a few hours to a few days
with but little prospect of medical skill
aiding in the fight for life In fact, such
a thing was almost unknown in the medi-l
cal profession until recent years. Here Isl
practically a new disease" if one may
term ii a disease, new anyway so far asI
America is concerned, and like many 9TH
ers, one which was imported from Euro
pean soil. The rather euphonious name of
botulismus has been given 10 il and thatl
in itself is nlisnomer, as this world
means literally state Of sausage poison
ing"
The first recorded case of botulismusI
occurred in 17S5 and others were described
in 1855 and 1883. The outbreak which
seems to have attracted the attention of
the medical profession occurred in 1893 in
Wildbad in Wurtemberg, where thirteen
persons became i'll and six died after eat-l
ing blood sausage which had been packed
in hog stomach. The number of cases
rapidly increased after this time orl
rather to be more exact, the conditionl
having been described was more often rec
ognized, and finally they became nu-
merous that Jaeger, in 1902, published an
official warning from Stuttgart. in which
he detailed the symptoms, drew attention
to the danger of eating spoiled sausageI
and gave explicit instructions concerningl
the proper method of preparing and cur
ing sausage.
In 1928 Damn summarized the then
known cases on record and found that
between the years 1898 and 1897 there had
been pa cases OF sausage poisoning inl
IL. ,tat. 81
fatal The earlier cases were confined
10 Wurtemberg and to adjoining portions
of Baden and Bavaria but gradually
other cases were reported in Westphalia.
Wirtemberg however. continued to bel
the home of the disease for between 1SS2,
according to official figures, and 1862,
there had been al least eighty-two cases,
Of which nineteen had died. The first
outbreak in England occurred in 1850,
twenty-three cases, and the first outbreak
in France in 1875. There have now been
reported in Europe about a thousand
cases, OF which about twenty-five per
cent were registered as fatal.
The poison generates in various kinds
of meat foods, especially the blood and
liver sausage of the Germans, but this
appearsto be due to the fact that they are
not cooked prior to filling. All authorities
agree that hose sausageS which are
packed in large castings are most liable to
lnTGCtlOn. oInOheu anu plChieu iidi anu
bacon also have been indicted among the
meats. Russian fish poisoning is the
same disease. Butter, cheese, lard,
smoked goose, founders and cells all spoil
and germinate the poison of botulismus.
California has suffered more than other
parts Of this country in this matter. and
curiously enough the olives which coused
the recent epidemic in this city were said
to have been grown in that State. In 1884
Seelye reported a case Of food poisoning
in which fifteen persons were affected
after eating a turkey dinner. Like
predecessor. he noted the similarity in the
action Of the poison on the body to bella
donna poisoning.
Beef tamales have caused much OF the
trouble in California. Only recently ii
finally became established that this poison
might germinate in purely vegetable foods.
This fact turned attention again anew to
the subject. In q recent publication by
the Rockefeller Institution written by
Dickson various California outbreaks were
reported in detail, the number of cases IN
each outbreak running from one to seven.
Most of the California cases were taken
i'll after eating vegetables, spoiled after
canning. such as baked beans. apricots.
asparagus and string beans. And then
Dickson. who studied many of them,
traced an interesting and valuable con-
nection Following one case in San Jose
the spoiled beans were thrown into the
chicken yard and fifty chickens who ate
died of timber neck. Appropriate exam
inations. meteorological and chemical,
quickly esta ablished the fact that this COM
mon disease in chicekns is really botulis-
mus. The fact is made use of in dag
nosing the condition in human beings.
Spoiled food usually finds its way into
the chicken yard or into the food allow
ance of domestic animals. and as all are
more or less succesptable deaths among
~ .~AN
Of the food on the dining room table.
The cause Of all this trouble is, Of
course germ, namely that OF sausage
poisoning" or the bacillus botulinus. 1t
forms a poison in teh absence Of oxygen
Of the air which was one Of the first 'pto-
maines' to be isolated in a pure condition
and produce effects in the body similar
10 large and poisonous doses of BELLE
donna. One Of it's curious effects is its
power TO produce blindness in excessive
doses and patients who suffer from hotu'
ismus first complain oftentimes OF In
ability 20 sec. II has in this respect sone-
thing of the reactions of wood alcohol.
The point about all this. of course, is
how to avoid trouble in canning food
stuffs. It should be remembered that the
germ is quite as liable TO flourish and
elaborate its poison In vegetables as in
meats III the proper precautions are not
taken and quite as liable to form in the
cans Of preserved foods done in the nome
as in the commercial cannery. The first
rule is to cook thoroughly before eating
all foodstuffs taken from cans. The bad
habit of tasting food which does not look
or smell right as II comes from the can
should be discarded Many a housewife
has been made seriously i'll by such
small taste. That tho method which is
usually employed in canning vegetables
and fruits at home is not efficient is
proved by the frequency with which
larger or smaller proportion of the fin
shed product becomes spoiled
The average housewife knows little con-
cerning the habits OF bacteria and OF the
significance OF spores in spore-bearing
bacteria. and the Importance OF thorough
sterilization is not realized. The danger
was not so great with the older methods
OF preserving with sugar and u is quite
probable that with even small amount Of
sugar the toxin will not develop. The dan.
ger in the home Gaming lies in the fact
that the spores Of the bacillus botuinus.
which arc quite hardy may not be killed
out. and TO meet this contingency, the De-
partment OF Agriculture has recommended
that tho process of fractional distillation
be employed. ic., that the contents OF the
can be exposed TO heat for a period OF time
for three successive days.
This, however, has been shown to be in