Botulism

I understand that botulism is extremely deadly. The other day, I went to my pantry and picked up a can of diced jalapenos. I noticed that the can top was a little convex, which made me suspicious, but I opened it anyway. I smelled the contents and they smelled ok and looked ok, but I emptied the contents into the garbage anyway. Upon inspecting the inside of the can, I noticed several little dark spots on the inside of the can. These appeared to just be discolorations...kind of a "lead color" look.

Most of the research I did on the subject talked about home canning and stated that home canning with low-acid foods should be done in a pressure canner. I didn't really discover much in the way of commercially canned goods, nor anything about whether jalapenos are high or low acid.

Any comments? Have any of you ever run into a commercially canned product that had a somewhat convex lid?

[Greg]

Yes, we call them "poppers"(not to be confused w/amyl nitrate caps). It's a common thing to inspect for when receiving canned goods.

So would my can of jalapenos be jalapeno poppers?

[Eeyore]

I would have done the same thing...

However I don't believe that that was the proper environment for botulism....I'm not 100% though...I check my books from school and get back.

BTW. ROTfATPMP!!! (that's: ROTF About To Pee My Pants) What a great comeback!

eeyore

[Greg]

Walked right into that one. Of all the canned goods in the world Crudeau could have been opening, it had to be jajapenos! I think he really knew the answer and was just throwing out a hook.

Greg:

No, really. I had never heard the word "popper" before in that context. But when you came up with that answer, I had no choice.

However, after I asked the quesion, I did come up with this:
http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia2417.html

So, I guess botulism can occur in canned jalapenos after all.

[Marzoli]

This is interesting. My high school home ec teacher emphasized botulism so much that I got confused and thought you got it from not cooking fresh green beans long enough. Imagine the years I spent overcooking the poor things! Then I started reading cookbooks--light dawned--no more grey green beans.

[kokopuffs]

My understanding is that one shotglass of either botulism toxin or the bacteria can wipe out the entire humanity.