Is storing homeade dressing with garlic powder safe?
I would like to make a salad dressing with apple cider vinegar, evoo, maple syrup, mustard, onion and garlic powder, cayenne, and italian seasoning. I know nothing about food safety, is it safe to store this in the fridge for a week or two? Is there any risk for botulism?
Thanks!
Best Answer
Short answer: Homemade salad dressing, even with garlic, is generally considered safe, for a time frame of up to a week.
While some strains of botulism can grow slowly at refrigerator temperatures, in general botulism requires three things to grow in addition to having spores present:
- Low salt, low acid environment
- Low oxygen environment
- Temperatures above about 35 to 40 F (depending on the strain)
Garlic is one of the foods at risk for having botulism spores present.
Your recipe is vinegar based, and so is acidic. With the olive oil, the total dressing may be under the 3% threshold that completely inhibits botulism growth—especially when the dressing loses its emulsification and separates into layers, some layers may be less acidic.
Still, your strongest protection is the refrigeration, combined with the acid, and the short time frame.
Health Canada specifies that plain garlic and oil (much more at risk due to the lack of acid) can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.
You can therefore infer that with the additional acid, you will get at least the same week of safety, although I would hesitate to go longer as safety issues always warrant conservative assumptions.
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Does garlic powder carry botulism?
Garlic and herbs can be a source of Clostridium botulinum, widespread bacteria that produce the botulism toxin under certain conditions. When garlic or herbs are placed in oil, the low-acid, oxygen-free environment favors the growth of these bacteria.How long does homemade dressing with garlic last?
We recommend consuming dressings and sauces within 3-4 days to be safe. Food safety aside, we tend to prefer the taste of freshly made dressings, especially when using citrus, yogurt or garlic, and find that 3-4 days is the sweet spot.Can you get botulism from homemade salad dressing?
Homemade salad dressings can be a potential source of botulism bacteria if not handled properly.How do you preserve homemade dressing?
(Never store dressings in plastic; the plastic tends to absorb the flavors and oil and is hard to clean.) For making homemade salad dressing, not only will you need something to mix it in but several glass decanters for storing and serving, one for each type of dressing that you are storing.HOW TO PREVENT GARLIC, ONION \u0026 GINGER POWDER FROM GETTING LUMPY OR SOLID | LIFE HACKS
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