ccording to a Toronto health spokesperson, Rishma Govani, two people were paralyzed after drinking botulism-contaminated carrot juice, some of which was still found on store shelves 10 days after a Canada-wide recall.

Citing "botulism concerns," on September 30th, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency warned consumers not to drink Bolthouse Farms 100% Carrot Juice, Earthbound Farm Organic Carrot Juice and President's Choice Organics 100% Pure Carrot Juice, all of U.S. origin

Three more people have been sickened by botulism toxin in carrot juice made by Bolthouse Farms.

Two people from Toronto, Canada were hospitalized with paralysis after drinking the contaminated carrot juice.

Jylmarie Kintz, Hillsborough County Health Department epidemiologist, told the Associated Press that a woman in Florida has been in the hospital since mid-September. She remains unresponsive

Botulism in bottled carrot juice may have been what paralyzed a woman. So far, four people are thought to have been poisoned by the drink.

The woman, who has not been identified, is unresponsive and has been in the hospital since mid-September. Three people in Georgia have suffered respiratory failure and remain on ventilators since drinking the juice a month ago. The three shared a meal together shortly before getting sick.

The Food and Drug Administration says the victims may have mishandled the juice before drinking it. Carrot juice must be kept refrigerated to prevent the growth of bacteria

The U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) announced that a fourth case of botulism from carrot juice consumption is linked to Bolthouse Farms (Bakersfield, CA) brand carrot juice. The FDA officials are warning consumers to discard any Bolthouse Farms carrot juice in 450 ml and 1 liter plastic bottles with best used dates of November 11, 2006 and earlier.The last FDA warning reflected the importance of keeping carrot juice (including pasteurized forms) refrigerated at all times. That warning came on the heels of three recent cases of botulism in Georgia, which were believed to be caused from improper refrigeration of the product.Now a fourth case of botulism has been reported in Florida. The adult female who consumed the drink is currently suffering from paralysis.The original belief and known link was the lack of refrigeration, causing the carrot juice to grow toxins that infect humans with botulism if drank. However, this link was only able to be confirmed in one of the four cases.In addition, according to the prior report from the FDA and Georgia health officials, other consumers of the same brand, who had purchased and consumed the same juice within the same time frame, did not have any similar experiences with proper refrigeration.Therefore, the FDA is investigating other possible links to find the cause of this latest infection.The bacterium found in the carrot juice that can cause humans to be infected with botulism is commonly found in soil. When certain conditions exist, a toxin forms that can cause botulism, a disease that can paralysis or death when ingested.The FDA notes that botulism cases in humans from processed foods are extremely rare in the U.S.

Consumers should be alert and look for the terms "keep refrigerated" or "refrigerate after opening" on all labels to know whether or not a product needs to be refrigerated.

To prevent bacterial growth, temperatures of refrigerators/freezers should be checked on occasion with an appliance thermometer. The FDA advises that refrigerators should be kept at temperatures no higher than 40°F and freezers no higher then 0°F

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