# bot toxin in cheese - what are the signs?



## Guest (Sep 26, 2007)

Can anybody tell me if and what signs are visible in cheese contaminated by bot toxin? I had made a kind of cottage cheese and tried keeping it in a jar covered with olive oil for about a week outside the refrigerator, today I've decided to cut a slice off it and found there were hollows inside and one of the cheeses was slightly bulged. Could it be bot (God forbid, I've licked the oil off my fingers...) or anything else? Thank you.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Because no one had answered, I did a search on botulism in cheese. It is rare, but it has happened.

There's a book called The Fabrication of Farmstead Goat Cheese that has details and pictures of what can go wrong in cheese. Icky, but interesting.

Can I ask *why* you'd make cottage cheese, cover it in olive oil, and let it sit outside the fridge for a week? Inquiring minds.


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## Guest (Sep 29, 2007)

...Thanks Rose! As you can see I have not died yet I think I will get that book...if anything, just to say "Well, someone HAS messed it all up before"...  
Actually, what I had concocted was not exactly cottage cheese, rather a kind of Itaian cheese from Sardinia that you make with catmint (Nepeta cataria) and can keep in oil - only, the recipe did not specify whether outside or inside the refrigerator...I made the wrong choice, apparently! In fact I also made a couple of caciottas which you are supposed to soak in wine for some ten hours and then keep cool and these have turned out fine. 
Thanks again and have a nice day.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Botulism in cheese is an interesting question. The Clostridium botulinum bacteria needs both an anerobic medium and a neutral pH to grow. It's obvious that there's very little oxygen in the center of a cheese, but when *properly* made, there is too much acid to allow growth of the Clostridium bacteria. This is one of the reasons cheesemakers check the titratable aciditity and/or pH of cheese throughout the make.

There is also a point in the ripening of white mold soft cheeses when the acidity can drop too low, enabling clostridia to grow. 

If you make cheese like it was jello or a box cake, as most people do, without any understanding of the process, there is a possibility you could make cheese that would be an ideal medium for growing botulism. The best defense for that is educate yourself. Cheesemaking is a deep subject, and throughout history, cheesemakers have possessed a remarkable skill set---something that is not often appreciated. Don't be lulled into thinking it's a simple art by people trying to sell you cheesemaking stuff. It's not an impossible task, by any means, but it is difficult to learn from books, and it's best to recognize that, and deal with it. 

Now, Clara, I'm not aware that botulism causes holes and voids in cheese to announce its presence (I think that is the tricky thing about it). The presence of regular holes and swelling in cheese usually means an e.coli contamination---something that comes from fecal contamination of the milk and suggests sanitation issues. E.coli itself does not usually cause disease (except for that virulent type you hear about in raw hamburger) but it is a sort of marker to indicate the presence of other bacteria, like listeria bacteria and botulism bacteria, that are very dangerous, and are also carried into milk through sanitation problems. You might want to look into your sanitation seriously.


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## Jillis (Sep 11, 2005)

Is this an issue with soft cheeses that are basically made, hung and refrigerated within 24 to 48 hours?
Thank you, Jill!


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Not if they are properly acidified.


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