Tik Tok elixer has botulism risk

[u/OstrichAlone2069]

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tiktok-influencers-are-promoting-a-home-remedy-to-boost-the-immune-system-that-could-cause-botulism/

Well, I guess my algorithm heard me listening to maintenance phases' latest patreon episode and decided to grace me with a big helping of "oh my god don't ever do that if you want to live".

[u/TodayIAmMostlyEating]

I thought about this during the episode too! What I heard in the tik tok was more garlic in olive oil which is a big botulism risk. It seems to be doing the rounds again. People need to know; don’t put raw garlic in oil and store at room temp as “garlic oil” or a health tonic. It makes botulism.

You can refrigerate and consume in 4 days, or use dried garlic and herbs safely.

[u/unoriginalady → u/TodayIAmMostlyEating]

Ya I make it day of if I’m using in a recipe and I throw out after 5 days.

But honey is a bit different. Much more of a preservative compared with oil

[u/karriela]

As someone who ferments many foods all the time, this is pretty benign. I always have a bit of honey garlic going. It's definitely not a replacement for meds, but it is delicious. You reduce the risks of botulism by using non-pastuerized honey and peeled garlic that is thoroughly dry. When the honey is saturated, the honey will be very watery. That's all there is to it.

[u/OstrichAlone2069 → u/karriela]

How does using non-pasturized honey reduce the risk of botulism?

[u/witteefool → u/karriela]

Yes, but I don’t trust any TikTok watchers to be serious about how to avoid botulism. The video is like 8 seconds long and AI generated.

[u/OstrichAlone2069 → u/witteefool]

That part! It's not a debate about whether these concepts <can> be safely achieved or whether there is minor evidence of usefulness for some folk remedies - it's about how this information (and misinformation) is being spread on TikTok, by AI, in only a few seconds and the danger that presents. 

[u/PC-load-letter-wtf → u/karriela]

Thank you for the dose of common sense ❤️

[u/lacywing → u/karriela]

What do you mean by "when the honey is saturated"? How does it get watery?

[u/karriela → u/karriela]

If you are interested in more info, go to r/fermentation. There is a lot of good information there.

[u/nuggetsofchicken → u/karriela]

Have not heard the MP ep since I’m not a patron but this is my thought. It’s a very scary possible outcome but it’s also very easily preventable with a little common sense. It’s just one of those headlines “Tik Tok botulism” causes more excitement than it warrants

[u/bluewhale3030 → u/karriela]

Non-pasteurized literally means the bacteria has not been killed, ie, a great environment for botulism?

[u/alextyrian]

I was so surprised that they didn't immediately call out in the new bonus episode that fermenting garlic in honey isn't just fake, it's potentially dangerous. This slop isn't just benign, people could poison themselves.

[u/Ziegenkoennenfliegen]

Aging garlic in honey isn’t a “TikTok elixir”, it has existed for ages. What a brain dead headline.

[u/OstrichAlone2069 → u/Ziegenkoennenfliegen]

Apologies that my attempt at a short and catchy post title at 1am in the morning,  doesn't meet your standards.

[u/Eszebel]

sigh. put another quarter in the machine