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Botulinum Toxin A Poison The bacterial toxin that can paralyze and kill if consumed in contaminated food is now safely used, in a purified form, as a medicine to control certain conditions marked by involuntary muscle contractions. The history and lethality of botulism would seem to make it an unlikely source for a curative substance. Although death rates from botulism poisoning are just a fraction of what they were 30 years ago, botulism continues to strike …

…tato salad, served in restaurants. But many commercial food outbreaks are due to consumer mishandling, such as disregarding labels that indicate the food should be refrigerated. Some food companies acidify their products or lower their moisture content as an extra precautionary measure in case the refrigeration warning is not heeded. Consumers can best protect themselves by reading the labels and following the storage instructions, Swanson says, and by discarding rusty, swollen or otherwise damaged cans.