Botulism: the causative agent and its control in foods

Clostridium botulinum is the causative agent in four types of botulism: foodborne, infant, wound and those classified as undetermined. The types of C. botulinum and food products involved in various foodborne botulism outbreaks are discussed in this review. Most foodborne botulism outbreaks result from consumption of home-processed or home-canned foods; relatively few are caused by commercial products. Various physical and chemical treatments that can be used in foods either to destroy C. botulinum spores or control their outgrowth and toxin production are presented, and concerns about potential foodborne botulism outbreaks from new generation foods are discussed.