Bacterial Spoilage

Just like the fungi, bacteria are everywhere. They're in the water, soil, air, on you, your food and your food storage containers. Fortunately, the vast majority of the bacteria we encounter are relatively harmless and only a few represent a danger to us and our stored foods.

Bacteria can be very much more difficult to kill off than molds and insects. Some of them are capable of continued growth at temperatures that would kill other spoilage organisms. When conditions are such that they are unable to grow, some bacteria can go dormant and form spores. These spores can be quite hardy, even to the point of surviving a rolling boil.

In order to grow, bacteria need moisture, some as little as a 20% moisture content. For dry grains, legumes, powdered milk and other low moisture foodstuff bacterial spoilage will seldom be a problem so long as the moisture level in the foodstuff remains too scant to support its growth. For this reason, it is imperative that such products be drier than 20% and preferably below 10% to ward off mold growth as well. The botulism bacteria need moisture in the 35% range to grow. Thus, using desiccants in your food packaging is also an excellent idea.

It is in wet pack canned goods (where the container has free liquid in it) and fresh foods we must be the most concerned about spoilage bacteria. It is here that a little bad luck and a moment's inattention to what you are doing could kill or seriously injure you or some other person who eats the foods you've put by. In both home-canned and commercially-canned goods, if the can is bulging, leaking, smells bad, or spews liquid when you open it then throw it out! But, throw it out safely so that children and animals cannot get into it.

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