[Sca-cooks] The rotten meat thread

[Mark G. Smith]

Philip wrote,

>This can be the case, however, with spoiled meat, there's a lot going on.
>Part of it involves the bacteria spoiling the meat, and part of it involves
>the toxins produced by those bacteria. I'm currently looking for more
>information on those processes, in order to present a coherent statement on
>the matter. I would point out to you that some poisons are cumulative, and
>the more you get of them, even if the extra is in progressively smaller
>doses, the sicker you get.

I was required to take the ServSafe test (Nation food industry safety test)
for some classes I am taking and thought of some relevance to this thread.

Time, temperature and moisture are the biggest culprits regarding bacteria.
Foods with moderate ph and high moisture content can breed an army of
bacteria if not handled correctly.  Bacteria will multiply extremely fast in
the proper conditions; anywhere from 8 cells in one hour to over 1 billion
cells after ten hours if left out in the danger zone.  The danger zone as
described by most food service organizations today puts this area between 40
and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bacteria throughout this major growth cycle
will eat and produce toxins.  

Eating food with live bacteria growing on it can promote continued bacteria
growth in the intestines of humans.  Bacteria throughout there life cycle
will consume food and excrete toxins. This process is very similar to
alcohol being generated from yeast in the brewing process. Consuming food
contaminated with toxins and combined with the natural decaying processes
can obviously cause some illness.

So we have two different types of food poisoning in modern terms; food borne
infection and food borne intoxication.

Food borne infection normally occurs when someone eats food containing
pathogens (Bacteria, parasites, virus fungi.) Food eaten while bacteria are
still early in the growth cycle can allow the bacteria to continue to grow
in your intestines causing some pretty nasty results. In some cases the
cooking process (raising the temperature above 140 degrees) will kill these
bacteria and render them harmless.

Food borne intoxication however can not normally be deterred by cooking
usually.  The waste product from the bacteria's growth and eventual dieing
will leave toxins on the food that can't be cooked out.  Toxins combined
with the normal decaying process are what spoil food. Digestion of these
toxins is what normally can get people very sick.


There are many examples of medieval food preparation from smoking meats to
remove moisture to simply changing the acidity level by using something as
simple as verjuice that could have gone a long way in avoiding or prolonging
the spoilage of food.  While I do not want to assume that all had knowledge
of what would spoil food by today's standards, there is clear evidence that
promotes practices to avoid of it. 

For what it's worth my 2cp. =),


Dietrich Schwelgengrubber
East Kingdom