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Subject:
From:
Bill Truesdell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:24:21 -0400
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Ben Smith wrote:
Dave wrote
>>   The problem is that it is not acid at the beginning.

> If this is so, then why do you not hear of Botulism in Mead???

There is botulism in some honey. We all know it because of the tests
that were done which confirms it can be a source of poisoning for under
one year olds.

But There is botulism in many raw, unprocessed foods. which is why you
should not grind up raw veggies and feed them to under one year olds.

We eat honey and we eat the raw foods and usually suffer no ill effects
because (as I was told) our digestive systems are mature and can handle
botulism. Truth is, we are more likely to get ill from salmonella and
other contact bacteria than botulism.

The problem with botulism is in preserves and canning. If you create an
ideal environment for it to produce its toxins and then eat the raw
product you will get ill. The food does not smell spoiled, so there is
no warning.

It is hard to create an ideal environment for botulism when you produce
mead. A high sugar content is not an environment where botulism will
thrive. Check the canning directions for most fruits and they all call
for sugar syrup (and boiling and boiling water baths).

Then you progress to a high alcohol content, again, a poor breeding
ground. So botulism does not stand a chance in mead. But other bacteria
and yeasts can thrive in such an environment and spoil the brew- you get
vinegar or off tasting mead which is why mead makers try to keep the
operation as sterile as possible and keep out the unwelcome yeasts but
only add their own (just like wine makers).

As I noted, Preacher's vinegar was probably just fine, but we do not
know how acid it is. If he stored it for any length of time (which is
not out of the ordinary, since often it is fairly foul tasting and
people tell you to "age" it) and it had a low or no acid content, you
could get botulism poisoning.

Read any canning cookbook and the most common phrases are "pressure
cooker" and "boiling water bath", even for something supposedly acid
like tomatoes. The Jet Star tomatoes I love are not very acidic and
lemon juice is called for in canning them.

The 5% acid content that keeps showing up in the literature is exactly
the percent of acetic acid in "distilled vinegar" so it is actually what
the vinegar should be when you use it for preserving. Generally it is
diluted by about half at most, but you also boil everything and put the
canning jars in a boiling water bath for about 22-25 min.

Many recipes for vinegar call for additional water after the process is
complete, since you usually are well above 5% and it is unpalatable. So
it could be diluted to an unsafe state so it is drinkable and then stored.

Bill Truesdell (Who thinks this thread has run its course and needs to
be canned and preserved in the archives)
Bath, Maine

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