Objective: To highlight an episode of botulism that altered American food packaging technology

Background: Early progress in understanding the behavior of botulinum toxin was marked by stepwise gains related to various outbreaks over the years. One such event occurred in 1919, when botulism remained a scourge of the American food industry, particularly for items that needing preservation in sealed containers.

Method: Review of historical documents

Results: A wealthy socialite honored a returning hero of World War I. She reserved a private room at a banquet held at a Canton Ohio country club on August 23, 1919, and supplemented the banquet fare for her guests with delicacies she purchased: a jar of ripe California olives, chocolate candy, Newport creams, and candied almonds. The next day, 3 diners developed double vision. On the 2^nd day, a married couple both experienced trouble with speech, swallowing and breathing. The hostess and guest of honor were the first to die, both in the early hours of the 3^rd day. In all, 14 of 18 diners became ill, as did the 2 waiters and a chef. Five of the diners, one of the waiters and the chef died. A detailed report appeared in the Public Health Reports of Dec. 19, 1919. The authors were able to correlate the degree of sickness with individual olive consumption: the mean lethal dose was around 3 olives. In the wake of this tragedy, the California State Board of Health enacted emergency regulation of olive production in 1920, mandating a thermal process to eliminate botulinum toxin. Heat treatment by immersion in water at 240°F for 40 minutes became the rule. At the time, technology to keep jars sealed under those conditions did not exist, and California olives destined for export had to be canned for heating. When botulism outbreaks from commercial products continued to occur, California responded with the Cannery Inspection Act of 1925. Today, California’s Food and Drug Branch inspects 200 licensed canners where regulated products are packed.

Conclusion: A careful investigation into the cause of an outbreak of fatal botulism identified California ripened olives as the source. This led to state government mandates in the 1920s to protect the integrity of the state’s agricultural industry. While technology now exists to process olives packaged in jars through the heating stage required to inactivate Clostridium botulinum, to this day across the U.S.A. California ripened (black) olives are sold in cans.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/how-botulinum-toxin-transformed-the-american-food-industry/