Pruno Botulism
In prison, get yourself some fruit, water, and sugar and “pruno!”, you have yourself a party! But sometimes you can’t get any fruit, so apparently, potatoes are a great substitute. As in the case of a group of 2006 Utah prison inmates who got their hands on weeks-old baked potatoes for their pruno batch.
Unfortunately for the prisoners, Clostridium botulinum bacteria which causes botulism likes to live on the roots of potatoes. Eight prisoners developed botulism when they all drank the same pruno batch made from the potatoes.
All developed classic symptoms of food poisoning caused by botulism, including difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, double vision, and muscle weakness. Several had to be put on ventilators. One spared inmate took one sip of the pruno and spat it out it was so foul-tasting.
