Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39179697›Full record

ArticleCurrent microbiology2024

Prevalence of Clostridium botulinum in Retail Peanut Butters from a 2007 Survey in Ottawa, Canada.

Richard A Harris, Jeff Bussey, Annika Flint, Madeleine Blondin-Brosseau, Kelly Weedmark, John W Austin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Current microbiology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Peanut butter confirmed as the source in a case of infant botulism, United Kingdom, 2024.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Richard A HarrisBureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada. richard.harris@hc-sc.gc.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4520-1079
Jeff BusseyBureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Annika FlintBureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Madeleine Blondin-BrosseauBureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-3366-9770
Kelly WeedmarkBureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0745-4235
John W AustinBureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8824-0495

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The spore-forming, anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium botulinum, can cause intestinal toxemia (colonization) botulism in adults and infants by colonizing the gut and producing botulinum neurotoxin in situ. In 2006, peanut butter was identified as a lab-confirmed source of C. botulinum spores for an adult colonization botulism case in Canada. It is recommended for infants to be exposed to peanut butter at an early age to help prevent the development of a peanut allergy, yet the prevalence of C. botulinum in retail peanut butters is currently unknown. This report details a survey that was conducted in 2007 for the presence of viable C. botulinum spores in 92 peanut butters and 12 other nut butter spreads obtained from retail grocery stores in Ottawa, Canada. Samples were tested for viable C. botulinum spores by detecting botulinum neurotoxin in enrichment cultures by mouse bioassay. Three of the peanut butters from the entire survey of nut butter spreads (3/104, 3%) produced cultures containing botulinum neurotoxin. Whole genome sequencing performed on one isolate from this survey, as well as a clinical isolate and peanut butter isolates associated with the 2006 adult colonization case revealed that all C. botulinum isolates contained a full-length chromosomal bont/A1 gene within an ha-orf + cassette. This study identifies retail peanut butters as a potential source of viable C. botulinum spores at the time of sampling. Whether peanut butter represents a food category that may be contributing to the incidence of infant botulism has yet to be determined.

Indexed as

ArachisClostridium botulinumAdultAnimalsBotulinum ToxinsBotulismCanadaFood MicrobiologyHumansMicePrevalenceSpores, BacterialBotulinum Toxins

Identifiers

PMID39179697
PMCPMC11343779

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.