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“How Death Came, Unbidden, to Mrs. Sales Dinner Party” –The Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 30, 1919 “Bad Olives Kill Five, Sixth Is In Hospital” –The Charlotte Observer, Jan. 17, 1920 These news headlines were associated with two tragic stories of people who died after eating ripe olives unknowingly tainted with botulism. The latter, featured the Delbane family that was devastated not once, but twice, by the single jar. After mother and son tragically died from eating the olives over dinner, the grieving family consumed the rest of the olives unaware of the danger, which resulted in additional illness and death. In the early 20th century, botulism poisoning was a rare, but growing issue facing the American consumer. Cases were on the rise due to the increased popularity of canning, in industry and the home, as a way to preserve food before there was adequate refrigeration. The bacteria that causes botulism is common in soil and can be found in harmless amounts on most fresh food surfaces. However, sealed canning jars, such as those with ripe olives, can present an optimal environment—low in acid and lacking oxygen—for the bacteria to thrive and multiply. And, unlike most spoiled canned foods that can be detected by odor or taste as soon as they are opened, a can containing botulism will have no signs to indicate danger. Concerns about botulism associated with canned olives had become a serious public health concern a year before the Delbane incident and sales of ripe olives plunged by 95 percent with some locales forbidding their sales altogether. As the media began to focus on this industry, the Bureau of Chemistry (FDA’s predecessor) joined manufacturers and grower organizations to study the problem. They discovered that “canned” olives were actually “bottled” in glass jars that could not withstand the heat needed to kill botulism spores. Important safety measures were put in place. The olive industry could no longer use jar processing. Instead, cans became mandatory, and they had to withstand 240 degree heat for a full 40 minutes to kill the spores. No spoiled fruits were allowed in processing plants and insanitary conditions that allowed the spores to thrive were cleaned up. These advances helped industry develop safer processing methods for foods with a low acid content. Food and drug inspectors quickly added this knowledge to their regular oversight of the canned food industry, thereby strengthening food safety.