Women paralyzed by botulism after eating expired pesto from a farmers market

Expired pesto from a local farmers market left a 47-year-old Brazilian woman temporarily paralyzed while fighting a botulism infection that landed her in the hospital for an entire year.

“The pesto didn’t have an expiration date. [The shopkeeper] didn’t give me storage instructions either but I was a frequent customer,” Doralice Carneiro Sobreira Goes told Jam Press regarding the incident.

Goes reportedly purchased the pesto from a market in Brazil in 2021, but waited until the following month to consume it.

“My body didn’t feel right, my breathing had gotten worse, and my tongue felt like it was tingling,” she added. “I drove 20 kilometers to the hospital, parked the car, and then my body stopped working.”

Goes claims she had to throw herself out of her car, and signal for doctors to bring her a wheelchair. By the time they examined her, she was nearly entirely paralyzed, vomiting and struggling to breathe.

Doctors informed her she had suffered a botulism infection — a rare condition brought on by toxins found in bacteria — which was most likely caused by the pesto.

Canned food is often where the bacteria Clostridium botulinum can be found. If infection occurs, “recovery may take months and typically involves extended rehabilitation therapy,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

After a year spent recovering and rehabbing in the hospital, Goes can now move around with the help of a walker.

“I can now urinate by myself and feed myself,” she said, adding that she has been breathing without help for the past nine months.

She now makes an effort to avoid food from markets like the one which carried the near-deadly pesto, and only shops from trusted manufacturers.