system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is it true that you can get botulism from garlic stored in oil?
gpt
Sort of. *Clostridium botulinum* is ubiquitous in soil, but it is normally only present as spores; these spores by themselves pose no threat. However, when exposed to an oxygen-free environment, the spores germinate into live bacteria and in the process produce the botulism toxin.

In normal commercial food processing there is a high-heat sterilization process for canned/jarred food to prevent the germination of *C. botulinum* spores, but the temperature and pressure required are difficult to achieve in the home. So the threat is not necessarily *all* garlic-in-oil, but those prepared at home by inexperienced or ill-equipped cooks.