Beware: Botulism Threat Lurking In Herbed Oils

Beware the gift of bottled botulism.

Recipes for flavored olive oils are turning up in herb books, specialty shops and even some cookbooks whose authors should know better. It's a tempting gift idea: a few ounces of olive oil, some fresh basil or garlic from the garden, a cute little Italian stoppered bottle, and your Christmas gift list is done.

Trouble is, health experts say, the combination of fresh herbs and oil could be a recipe for botulism.

"We hate to be the spoilsports," says Dr. Val Hillers, extension food specialist at Washington State University. "But there really is significant risk in the recipes that we're seeing."

Clostridium botulinum is a deadly bacterium present in soil. It is an anaerobic bacterium, meaning that it thrives without oxygen. To grow, it needs only water and the absence of air. Herbs in oil provide both.

"Some recipes even suggest you set the bottle in a sunny window for a month, which is exactly what you would do in the lab if you were trying to culture botulin," Hillers said.

The WSU Extension Service issued a warning after local food advisers became alarmed at the number of calls they were getting from people wanting to bottle flavored oils at home.

"Fresh garlic, in particular, is just deadly when confined in oil," said Seattle-based extension adviser Carolyn Fenner.

Hiller said there are only two safe ways to make flavored oils:

Warm infusion: Heat the oil and herbs to a simmer. Continue to heat just below simmer for 15 minutes, then immediately strain the oil through several layers of clean cheesecloth so all herb particles are removed. Pour the oil into a sterilized glass jar and refrigerate.

Cold Infusion: Combine the oil and herbs and refrigerate the product immediately. Write the date the product was made on the bottle.

"Even if you refrigerate," Hiller added, "you shouldn't keep it longer than two weeks."

The Canola Oil Web site offers some safety tips. It's at: http://www.canolainfo.org/html/flavoils.html

Having some of the same concerns, Reader's Digest has announced it is recalling 600,000 copies of a holiday guide because recipes for flavored oils fail to mention that they should be refrigerated to guard against botulism.

Reader's Digest also said a few thousand copies of "Sensational Preserves," a book published last year in which the four recipes first appeared, can be returned to dealers for refunds.

Customers can obtain refund information for Reader's Digest Christmas at 888-366-3732 or the customer-service section of the company's Web site at http://www.readersdigest.com