4 ms·
I am somewhat skeptical of this as well. It's not uncommon to hear of someone having eaten something "bad", but that can be the result of many pathogens and wit
by ckastner 5y ago
I am somewhat skeptical of this as well. It's not uncommon to hear of someone having eaten something "bad", but that can be the result of many pathogens and with regards to botulinum, the article gives a data point:
> In the UK, between 1990 and 2005, there were 5 reported cases affecting 6 people and causing 2 deaths, meaning that you were 15 times more likely to be hit by lightning.
- koheripbal 5y agoThat data is clearly only reporting very serious cases though, since one third of them died. Food poisoning is much more common than lightning.
- ckastner 5y ago> Food poisoning is much more common than lightning. I said as much. The question is whether botulism is more common than lightning. Food poisoning is not uncommon, but can be caused by many pathogens, for example E. coli. Given the fact that we have a common illness but very few confirmations of C. botulinum as the cause, the question stands whether this is really a risk in practice.