GN warns of possible botulism in Sanikiluaq
Government advises people not to eat fermented meat
Traditionally fermented meat, such as the walrus meat shown in this file photo, may create a risk of botulism. The GN is warning people in Sanikiluaq to stop eating fermented meat because it could be contaminated with the toxin. (File photo)
People in Sanikiluaq should abstain from eating fermented meat because it could be contaminated with botulism.
The Department of Health issued a public health advisory Friday about the issue.
People who have eaten fermented meat should watch for symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, feeling weak or tired, blurred vision, and difficulty breathing, the advisory said.
Botulism is a rare illness caused by a toxin released by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. This type of bacteria produces the toxin in low-oxygen environments and can be found in certain foods, including fermented meats.
Anyone in Sanikiluaq who has these symptoms should contact community health at 867-266-8965, the announcement says.
Anybody with leftover meat that could be used for testing can arrange to send it to the environmental officer at 867-975-1163.
Was it really fermented walrus meat that caused the botulism outbreak? Or a they displaying the picture of the fermented walrus since it is fermented? In the Amittuq region (where the fermented walrus meat is famous from), walrus meat is cached in the spring in gravel, dug out and consumed in winter. And to date, have never heard of botulism like symptoms from people consuming fermented walrus meat from the region. Do know of past instances of botulism in other regions, where they supposedly stored meat in plastic bags, under the sink where there is no sunlight, and those are the instances of botulism have heard about. If only Nunatsiaq News elaborated what type of meat and how the fermentation process was, that caused the outbreak.
Nunatsiaq probably doesn’t know much about this topic. I once tried to clarify on a story like this that clostridium botulinum grow in anaerobic (oxygen free) environments, but they would not let the comment up. Crazy. At least they mention that now. Either way this distinction you’ve pointed out is critical. More people need to be educated about this.
You will probably be unpleasantly surprised to learn that Fermentation is an anaerobic process.
> Fermentation is an anaerobic process in which energy can be released from glucose even if oxygen is not available.
P.S. I thought you were supposed to leave the Igunaq all winter and only dig it up after the thaw. Didn’t think it was supposed to be consumed in the same year it was buried.
Fermentation is an anaerobic process, unless it is aerobic fermentation, then it is not.
The photo appears to be just frozen raw meat. It doesn’t look too fermented from my view.
I agree, if it was fermented, there would be some greenish purple colour to it.
The way people traditionally buried meat like walrus and muktaq, they do it in coarse loose gravel where there is still some air getting to it. It is not airtight. With caribou meat it is cached in the fall ( with cooler weather)with large rocks on top to be picked up usually by Christmas. Again, some air gets to it.
When living there for almost 6 years, people got sick from this in each year. I think one year there was a separate second incident/wave.
Meat is not being processed and stored properly:
There are people who know how to make igunaq and clearly people who don’t (some people are the source of unsafe meat in subsequent years).
Maybe, be sure to get iqumaq from someone who has track record of doing it right?
This seems to be an annual issue for Sanikiluaq
For half price… meaning it’s best before date is approaching and everyone will run the other way
Run away from it then, I’ll buy it save 50% on my meat costs all year.