> but American food writing always needs FDA recommendations and general fearmongering, for some reason.
Maybe fearmongering is one of the reasons the deaths are so low?
That, and the fact that the recipes that have become a part of the culture in many cases happen to be recipes that prevent botulism (i.e., things that are sour).
> (And I do not believe it's bloggers feeling the need to warn about it that's suppressing the numbers!)
As for safe recipes being established part of the culture (no puns intended?) - yeah, well that's somewhat the point, C. botulinum spores can't be seen, but other things can, we've developed preservation techniques that work for both, it's rare anyway, it doesn't warrant worrying about specifically. It's the nastiest thing that almost certainly isn't going to happen.
Maybe fearmongering is one of the reasons the deaths are so low?
That, and the fact that the recipes that have become a part of the culture in many cases happen to be recipes that prevent botulism (i.e., things that are sour).