Expert: Carol Schlitt - 5/12/2006

Question
Just moved into a new house.  One of my roommates made dinner, and after I ate it, I realized that he had used meatless spaghetti sauce that had been in a open can on the pantry shelf for who knows how-long. He is from Europe, where I guess they don't refridgerate as much.  I have a bit of an upset stomach.  I was wondering if I have to worry about more serious toxins like botulism. Arghh, Please advise.

Answer
Hi CW,

Fortunately, botulism spores only vegetate (grow) in the absense of oxygen.  Since you say the can was open, botulisim would not develope. And the symptoms for botulism are not flu like but attack the nervous system -- so I would stop worrying about that particular bacterium.

Thank goodness it was meatless sauce-- the pH of the sauce is lower (more acidic) than spaghetii sauce with meat making it a less likely environment for harmful bacteria to grow.  Food spoilage organisms (such as mold, etc) probably would take over long before food borne illness bacteria multiplied to sufficient numbers to cause illness.

Most bacterium that cause food borne illness cause flu-like symptoms - upset stomach, diahhrea, vomiting. And these symptoms can occur as soon as 30 minutes of ingesting up to 72 hours later (depending upon the bacteria strain).

I hope this has helped and that by the time you are reading this you are feeling fine.  It's true that Europeans do not refrigerate their food as readily as Americans. Many of their food products that we normally refrigerate are aesceptically packed which allows them to be shelf stable. Perhaps he is use to this type of sauce. However, once this type of packaging is opened it must be refrigerated for safety (even in Europe.)

Carol C. Schlitt
Extension Educator, Nutrition and Wellness
University of Illinois Extension