My grandmother told me when she was growing up, a local family was wiped out by botulism from a bad batch of steam HOT WATER BATH canned green beans.

She only pressure canned, and never green beans.

When I was a kid there was an outbreak of botulism at a Mexican restaurant near us from home canned jalapenos.

This is not something to just guess with.

To reiterate a point I made earlier, not all tomatoes are acidic enough to kill botulinum.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Fenris,

Very recently I ate a can of beef stew that had a best by of 2006. It tasted just fine.

I’d say store-bought canned food in good condition is basically immortal though I wouldn’t try that with anything home-canned.

quote:

Originally posted by asonie:
Very recently I ate a can of beef stew that had a best by of 2006. It tasted just fine.

I’d say store-bought canned food in good condition is basically immortal though I wouldn’t try that with anything home-canned.

1. Check that both ends of the can are concave not convex. Lights reflected off a concave end will appear distorted like a fun house mirror. Lights reflected off a convex end appear more normal but smaller.

2. Check for rust and dents, particularly along sealing edge.

3. If the can squirts when first punctured by can opener, run.

4. Check contents for appearance and smell before even thinking about tasting.

5. If still unsure, throw it out.

Note: Be extra careful with tomatoes in metal cans, the acid can damage the cans and these fancy high tech liners probably aren't tested for true long term storage.

It seems that getting Botulism in the United States is as common as getting stuck in Quicksand.
An average of 110 cases of botulism is reported annually in the US. About twenty-five percent of these cases are foodborne botulism.