Pathogens (Re: SC - distillation)

[Nick Sasso]

Harmful toxins are not pathogens.  EColi, streptococcus, tinea curis,
these are pathogenic organisms that attack the human cells actively. 
Vinegar is created by acetobacter and impacts the human body in an
incidental fashion that the acetobacter does not do (see also
lactobacilli for making lambics).

I think this is a very important topic on which to get clarity as it
will also effect our cooking habits.  Cooking a piece of chicken that
has been on the front seat of your car for a week will kill the
bacteria, and will no longer grow new culture under sanitary
conditions.  (the pathogen is dead and the toxins are left intact) You
could still die from eating the chicken due to the toxins produced PRIOR
to cooking.  This seems to be the splitting of the proverbial hair
(hare?), but this difference really needs to be understood by cooks and
brewers.  The implications could lead to thawing food on the countertop
all morning and thinking that cooking and serving will cause no
harm....WRONGO!  not many will do this, but some could wander logically
backward into that trap.

The fermenting of sugars at temperatures over 70F will give you fusel
alcohols and some other odd chemicals like phenols and diacetyls and
some stuff that taste of fingernail polish remover/acetone (not that
I've made anything like that ... recently).  They won't kill the
significantly damage the average human beyond hangover symptoms, but
could cause problems to that percentage with sensitivities.  I have
learned about the pathogen thingy and fermentation byproducts in my
research in becoming an American Homebrewers Association card carrying
Beer Judge.  The beasties that produce the off flavors will die or
become dormant in the environment of hopped, brewed beer.  What will
affect the drinker is NOT a pathogen. . . you cannot get the flu from
the beer. . . it is the byproducts and wastes.  Please give me (I sound
like Ras now) some book to read or journal that can give me the
information stated.  I am truly seeking current information to teach
others and have met a dead end in the library nearby.

pacem et bonum,

niccolo difrancesco

> *sighs* I don't know the exact names of the bacteria, but yes they can live > in grape juice, barley juice, or dilluted honey with spices added.  Also > some wild yeasts produce different alchohols that go unnoticed and can cause > harmful effects.
> 
> Cadoc
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