My name is Debbie Miller, and I have a story to tell you.
I'm here to educate some of you and to enlighten all of you
about what reckless canning looks like.
And I vowed while I was in intensive care,
paralyzed and on a ventilator, to tell my story as often as I
could in hopes that others would realize
the seriousness of proper canning
to their safety and the safety of their families.
I had prepared jams in water baths,
but I had never pressure canned vegetables.
My Presto pressure canner was large, I have it here.
I had raw packed six to eight 1 and 1/2 pint glass
jars in a pressure canner that I had
been given to by a neighbor.
It was a well-made Presto pressure canner,
but there were no instructions for it's use.
That was my first mistake.
I had no idea how to use this Presto pressure
canner, no idea.
I did not have the gauge checked out and properly calibrated
by the USU Food Extension Team.
I basically ignored their recommendation.
I figured that I could just cook the beans longer,
and that would destroy any risky bacteria.
But finally, the day came to can.
I bought kosher salt, I washed my beans, I cut my beans,
and began packing them.
I was so excited.
And since I was working with my neighbor who
had done some canning, I surely wouldn't
make any stupid mistakes.
Well, just recently, about a year after my near fatal
illness, I watched a YouTube video
produced by the University of Alaska food safety personnel.
The instructor said to fill the pressure canner
with 3 to 4 inches of water.
As I heard her say this and watched her fill her pressure
canner, I was alarmed to realize that, out the gate,
I had failed to follow appropriate standards.
What did I do in September of 2018?
I filled my pressure canner to cover the 1 and 1/2 pint glass
jars of raw packed green beans.
I had done that for jams in a water bath,
so I guess I would do that for my canned green beans.
I knew nothing about the difference between high acid
foods, like fruits, and jams, and sugary bread and butter
pickles, perhaps, and low acid foods,
like straight vegetables.
I knew nothing about pH levels.
All of these things I learned too late.
I put too much water in the pressure canner.
I filled it to the top of the 1 and 1/2 pint glass jars.
By filling my pressure counter with water,
it would have never reached the appropriate temperature
to kill the botulism.
There was no room for the pressure to reach 240 degrees,
nor was there room to create the required steam.
Also, there was no weight on the vent pipe, which
if it were properly placed, would have allowed the pressure
canner to build up the pressure.
And we'll get to the vent pipe in a minute.
So I locked the pressure canner, and I
had no idea what to do next.
I didn't consult the dial gauge, because it didn't work.
It remains at 0.
I never got steam out of the vent port,
nor did I look for steam to come out of the vent port.
I did not even know what that thing was sticking up
from the lid of the pressure canner.
I just turned off the flame after five to six hours.
I never reached the level of pressure
to allow the vent port to release steam for 10 minutes,
as would have been industry standard.
Like I said, I didn't even know what a vent port was,
nor what it was used for.
Then there was this metal thing about the size of dice.
What was that for?
Heck if I knew.
It was the dead-weight that was to be placed on the vent port
after 10 minutes.
But I hadn't read the instructions,
so I didn't know anything about a vent port or a dead weight.
After I turned off the gas burner,
I think I did let the pressure canner
cool for a couple of hours.
And I believe at about midnight I opened it.
I don't remember if I took the green bean jars out
of the water then or waited until the next morning
to take them out.
When I went to the kitchen the next morning,
I checked the canned green bean lids after I had taken them out
of the pressure canner.
OK, get ready.
This is worthy of a shocked hand gesture.
As I ran my finger across the top of the lids,
some were concave and others were not,
so I press down on those that weren't and applied pressure.
And suddenly, they were concave.
There was evidence of improper sealing that I ignored,
and I even altered, and told myself
they were properly sealed.
The canned green beans stayed on the kitchen counter
for a week or so, and I was so proud.
Here I was living the life in Utah,
canning just like my grandma, these beautiful jars
of green beans adorning my counter-top.
In about November, I pulled out a jar of my canned green beans
and served them for dinner.
I don't recall whether I boiled them in water
or simply microwaved them, but we enjoyed them
with no ill effect.
In January, I finished the jar of green beans,
I ate them on January 1 and on January 2.
On January 4, I woke up with double vision.
Something was seriously wrong.
I went to the emergency room at Salt Lake City Regional Medical
Center as I was in Salt Lake at the time.
There was no explaining it.
I was rushed in to have a brain MRI to rule out a stroke.
The MRI came back clear.
I was sent home and told to call in if my condition worsened.
The next morning, I woke up with a swollen tongue
and continued double vision.
I could barely hold my head up.
The emergency room doctor had actually
called me the second morning.
I answered and I said, almost inaudibly, my tongue
is swollen.
I need to come back.
He said, come back in.
I was again admitted, and he asked me, what have you eaten?
Like a ton of bricks, it hit me.
I had eaten canned green beans that I had canned.
I had botulism.
He immediately got on the phone to the CDC.
Blood samples for serum testing were taken.
I laid back in that bed in the emergency room
and literally watched and listened as the team determined
a diagnosis of botulism.
Everything was in full swing.
And within 10 hours, the antitoxin
was flown in from California and administered
to me, all coordinated by my emergency room
doctor and the CDC.
I went from the emergency room to ICU later that morning,
I believe, but time was beginning to stand still.
I was sedated and I fell asleep.
When I woke, it was daytime.
Arm restraints were being applied,
because I had been intubated.
I could no longer breathe on my own,
I could not move any part of my body, aside from my hands,
and I had a nasal feeding tube inserted into my nose
to my stomach.
I would be in the ICU for nine more days,
and move to South Davis community hospital
for 82 days of recovery, including rehab,
included physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
I had to be traiked.
I did not eat or drink for two months
and had to learn how to drink, eat, and swallow again,
not to mention to be weaned from a ventilator
and be able to breathe on my own again,
Lessons learned-- do a dry run before actually
canning acid vegetables.
Find an instruction manual for your pressure canner.
They exist online.
It would not be that hard to find one.
Read your instructions.
Watch videos from universities on proper canning techniques.
Learn about all of the components
of your pressure canner.
Assure that each can is properly sealed, no pressing down
on those that aren't concave.
But the final thing I focused on was telling my story
and thinking of venues that I would use to tell it.
And when I returned home, I did call Charlie McCollum,
the editor of The Herald Journal,
and I pitched my story.
I said, Charlie, there is a story here--
California transplant comes to Utah,
going to live a prairie life, start canning food
and living off the land, and I almost
killed myself trying to do it.
I hope my story enlightens all of you on how at risk us
urban dwellers are who come to these wonderful agricultural
regions thinking we can just jump in canning.
And if I can be a poster child for what not to do in canning,
I'm happy to step up and help wherever I can.
Thank you.