Italy - Guacamole Sauce Linked to Botulism Outbreak

A news article out of Italy where guacamole sauce was linked to a botulism outbreak that may have impacted 8 or more people.  It was a packaged guacamole that may have been held at improper temperatures.

The one potential issue that will need to be looked at for this product is lack of pH control.  In fresh guacamole, the pH will tend to be above 4.6 unless it is properly acidified.  Fresh avocado will have a pH close to 6.5 and when normally formulated with addition of other ingredients will be around 5.0 (Misael, 2019), so proper acidification is needed.  Another consideration would be the increase of pH by spoilage organisms like mold, if it had been properly acidified.

https://www.unionesarda.it/en/sardinia/botulinum-poisoning-at-fiesta-latina-eight-people-now-hospitalized-qh89ryrs
Botulinum poisoning at Fiesta Latina: Eight people now hospitalized.
These are the numbers linked to the ingestion of guacamole sauce purchased at a Mexican stand
Eight patients hospitalized in intensive care and neurology, three suspected cases with a high probability of confirmation.

One of them is in very serious condition: the 11-year-old boy was urgently transferred Thursday morning from Brotzu to Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he is being closely monitored in the pediatric intensive care unit. He may need a tracheotomy to ensure proper nutrition, and it's too early to determine what the possible permanent consequences might be.

These are the cold numbers of the chain of botulism poisonings linked to the ingestion of guacamole sauce purchased at a Mexican stand at the Fiesta Latina held on Via Caracalla, in Monserrato, between July 22nd and 25th.

The time that has passed gives experts hope: if so far no serious symptoms have appeared in other participants, it means that the cluster linked to the Monserrato event could be defined.

While we await the results of the analyses on the containers of sauce seized in Ogliastra, in Porto Frailis, where the event caravan had moved (then blocked by the mayor Marcello Ladu), some are fanning the flames of controversy : too many festivals and events, attacks Emanuele Frongia, president of the Fipe Confcommercio of Southern Sardinia, "are held in the absence of adequate sanitary conditions."