Botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism poison.

It very difficult to tell if food contains botulism poison because you   Can't see it   Can't smell it   Can't taste it

"Currently, the only way to know for sure whether a food contains the botulism poison is through tests that can be performed at the laboratories at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. But, it takes  several weeks to get the results of those tests."

Jay Butler, MD Director, Arctic Investigations Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The symptoms for botulism can be very similar to the symptoms of some other diseases. Therefore, if botulism is suspected, it’s very important to determine if poison is in the food that has been eaten. If you think you have botulism, it is very important not to throw out any leftover food. Testing of food that has been recently eaten can be very valuable to determine if botulism poison is in the food.

Barbara Riley, MD Physician, Kanakanak Hospital Dillingham, Alaska

"I think the fear of death is  immense because we have had people die with botulism.  Anyone who has the potential of being exposed needs to know  that people die from botulism."

You can't see, smell, or taste botulism poison.   If you think you have botulism, don't throw out food that     has recently been eaten so that it can be tested.