{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T16:02:04Z","timestamp":1784217724388,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]],"date-time":"2025-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753228800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Food-borne botulism is a rare but serious disease caused by ingestion of botulinum neurotoxin pre-formed in food by Clostridium botulinum. Between 2006 and 2009, no foodborne botulism cases were reported in the UK. However, the period from 2010 to 2024 saw 13 cases, encompassing seven separate incidents and two outbreaks, with no reported fatalities. Cases were predominantly linked to imported, home-made, and artisanal foods, occasionally to commercial products. Diagnostic and public health challenges include delayed clinical diagnosis, delayed sample collection, inadequate specimen volumes, and the frequent unavailability of suspected food sources, hampering epidemiological investigations. The UK has an extremely low incidence of foodborne botulism with an estimated rate of 0.001 cases per 100,000 people per year, but despite this low occurrence, food botulism remains a public health emergency as it requires timely treatment and rapid reactive intervention to be undertaken by multiple regulatory agencies. Continuous professional training of medical staff, up-to-date clinical guidance, rapid diagnostic, and food investigations are essential for optimising patient outcomes and prevention.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods14152584","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]],"date-time":"2025-07-23T14:22:44Z","timestamp":1753280564000},"page":"2584","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Review of Foodborne Botulism in the UK: 2006\u20132024"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Corinne Francoise Laurence","family":"Amar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Burhan","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jonathan","family":"Finch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-3664-0333","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dunstan","family":"Rajendram","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vanessa K.","family":"Wong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Infections, Food Safety and One Health, UK Health Security Agency, London NW9 5EQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gauri","family":"Godbole","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastrointestinal Infections, Food Safety and One Health, UK Health Security Agency, London NW9 5EQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1038\/s42004-024-01262-8","article-title":"Activity of botulinum neurotoxin X and its structure when shielded by a non-toxic non-hemagglutinin protein","volume":"7","author":"Skerlova","year":"2024","journal-title":"Commun. Chem."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"310","DOI":"10.1002\/1873-3468.12969","article-title":"Identification of a novel botulinum neurotoxin gene cluster in Enterococcus","volume":"592","author":"Brunt","year":"2018","journal-title":"FEBS Lett."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2205251","DOI":"10.1080\/21505594.2023.2205251","article-title":"Pathogenicity and virulence of Clostridium botulinum","volume":"14","author":"Rawson","year":"2023","journal-title":"Virulence"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S2","DOI":"10.1002\/mds.20003","article-title":"Historical notes on botulism, Clostridium botulinum, botulinum toxin, and the idea of the therapeutic use of the toxin","volume":"19","author":"Erbguth","year":"2004","journal-title":"Mov. Disord."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.3109\/15563650.2011.571694","article-title":"The ripe olive scare and hotel Loch Maree tragedy: Botulism under glass in the 1920\u2019s","volume":"49","author":"Horowitz","year":"2011","journal-title":"Clin. Toxicol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.1093\/pubmed\/fdl053","article-title":"Food-borne botulism in the United Kingdom","volume":"28","author":"McLauchlin","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Solomon, H.M., and Lilly, T. (2001). Clostridium botulinum in Bacteriological Analytical Manual."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1089\/fpd.2004.1.247","article-title":"Development and application of Real-Time PCR assays to detect fragments of the Clostridium botulinum types A, B, and E neurotoxin genes for investigation of human foodborne and infant botulism","volume":"1","author":"Akbulut","year":"2004","journal-title":"Foodborne Pathog. Dis."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1601","DOI":"10.1099\/jmm.0.011510-0","article-title":"Report of two unlinked cases of infant botulism in the UK in October 2007","volume":"58","author":"Grant","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Med. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2300624","DOI":"10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.47.2300624","article-title":"Foodborne botulism outbreak involving different nationalities during the Rugby World Cup: Critical role of credit card data and rapid international cooperation, France, September 2023","volume":"28","author":"Meurice","year":"2023","journal-title":"Eurosurveillance"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20036","DOI":"10.2807\/ese.16.49.20036-en","article-title":"An outbreak of food-borne botulism in Scotland, United Kingdom, November 2011","volume":"16","author":"Browning","year":"2011","journal-title":"Eurosurveillance"},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Directorate General for Health and Consummers (European Commission) (2013). The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed 2012 Annual Report, European Commission."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Food Standards Agency Update on Recall of Divini Di Chicco Olives. The National Archives, Available online: http:\/\/www.food.gov.uk\/enforcement\/alerts\/2012\/jul\/olivesupdate."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (2023). Botulism. ECDC. Annual Epidemiological Report for 2021, ECDC."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (2024). Botulism. ECDC. Annual Epidemiological Report for 2022, ECDC."}],"container-title":["Foods"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2304-8158\/14\/15\/2584\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T18:14:42Z","timestamp":1760033682000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2304-8158\/14\/15\/2584"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"15","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8]]}},"alternative-id":["foods14152584"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/foods14152584","relation":{},"ISSN":["2304-8158"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2304-8158","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]]}}}