Chlorine Dioxide: Role in Botulism Prevention & Food Safety

While rare, botulism poisoning is a serious disease. It occurs most often in the home as a result of eating canned food infected with the bacteria that causes botulism.

Botulism

• Botulism is an illness triggered by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. Symptoms of foodborne botulism include slurred speech, double vision and muscle weakness, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Prevention/Solution

• Food-processing plants use chlorine dioxide to eradicate C. botulinum on spores. Machinery can be sanitized by applying a chlorine dioxide solution to it for at least two minutes, according to the "International Handbook of Foodborne Pathogens."

Considerations

• Some strains of C. botulinum have a greater resistance to the effects of chlorine dioxide than others. In the home, proper food storage and cooking will reduce the risks of botulism poisoning.