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Does the alcohol in regular (40% vol) vodka successfully kill all bacteria that could potentially lead to botulism?
Like, if you'd put fresh fruit in vodka
I wouldn't rely on it. 40% is at the lower end of the optimal concentration range of ethanol for bactericide use, and you're diluting it further with the fruit. Also, whole (or big lumps of) fruit will take a long time to equilibrate by diffusion. C.botulinum lives everywhere as spores, and alcohol has little or no effect on bacterial spores.
Furthermore, botulism is generally caused by ingestion of the toxin botulinum, not usually from consuming the bacteria themselves, so killing the bacteria will not effect whatever botulinum they have already produced while living in the fruit.
gbj_tester
@salad
Does the alcohol in regular (40% vol) vodka successfully kill all bacteria that could potentially lead to botulism?
Like, if you'd put fresh fruit in vodka that's not sterilised or treated any other way like freezing / boiling / adding acids etc.