Riaayo t1_jdauzu2 wrote
Reply to comment by woolsocksandsandals in Be careful maple sugarers! by StankyBo
I am not so naive as to not understand there are certain levels of contaminants in commercial food, but that's why there are regulations for "acceptable" / safe levels of such things - and why those who go outside of those regulations should at least in theory be held liable/accountable for it, especially if someone were to get sick.
None of this changes that botulism is a thing, and that a dead animal in your foodstuffs is a serious contamination. We're not talking about a few ants or something, we're talking about a full on dead/decomposing mammal.
What corporations do also has zero baring on how you prepare and store your own food that you have harvested and processed yourself.
I don't have a problem with ignorance or rural living. People don't know what they don't know until they know it. But I definitely take some issue with people who refuse to admit they didn't know something or refuse to admit reality, entirely on the basis that admitting so would inconvenience them. Considering you've stated it's okay to admit you don't know something to someone else, I would think you'd be more open to that yourself.
You want to take these risks? Go for it. You're totally allowed if you're the only one consuming it and you aren't selling it. But when you come out in public and start advocating that there is no danger, and others could come across and read this and be misinformed by your personal desire to disregard safety? That's a problem.
You do you, but don't go advocating for willful ignorance of the severity of having dead animals in contact with your food to where other people will pick up that misinformation and potentially harm themselves in the process.
woolsocksandsandals t1_jdc6jl7 wrote
You don’t seem to understand how sap is collected or made or what constitutes a food that presents a botulism danger.
Maple syrup is usually collected daily and is only collected at times of the year where temperatures are generally pretty low. Therefore decomposition isn’t really going to happen in this scenario. The main contaminant is going to be a very small quantity of feces. After the sap is collected it’s filtered and then boiled for a loooong time. Botulism toxin is rendered inert at 185° and the bacteria is self dies at 212° after ten minutes. The spores are going to survive the process but it’s my understanding that the high sugar content of the syrup does something to the spore that stops it from reproducing or producing the toxin.
Therefore not a danger. Gross, but not a danger.
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