Botulism

I was making one of my favorite foods today, Spaghetti and Garlic, when I thought my garlic was kinda looking a little funny. You see I've been storing my garlic in olive oil since my dad suggested it to me. The garlic really wasn't looking that funny, but I thought I'd check the trusty internet to see if this really was an accepted thing.

Uh-oh....

It turns out that putting it in oil is a popular way to store garlic, except the first webpage I came across said:

First a word of caution: NEVER allow garlic in oil to sit at room temperature. It is a hotbed for botulism. Keep it refrigerated or frozen at all times.

Oh crap! I've been storing mine in the pantry! I guess I'm writing this as my last will. I will probably die of botulism this week. If you don't see any more posts from me, you now know the reason why. Seriously though, it kinda did worry me a lot, and I think this might be the source of the mysterious food poisoning I've gotten a couple of times in the last month.