If heat kills bacteria, why does cooking and eating expired food still make you sick

Question

Surely the bacteria that grew after the expiration date will have been killed in the cooking process?

In: 15

Answer 1

Sometimes it’s the bacteria that are dangerous, but sometimes it’s the bacterial poop that’s dangerous. Cooking food kills bacteria, but doesn’t do anything about the bacterial poop.

A good example is botulism – it’s not caused by the bacteria *Clostridium botulinum*, but rather by the bacteria’s neurotoxic excretion.