A state Department of Health official yesterday discounted a second reported case of botulism on Maui because the symptoms "didn't meet the criteria" for the foodborne illness.

Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said the man who became ill, Wailuku attorney Keith Regan, was not hospitalized after going to the Maui Memorial Medical Center emergency room on Friday, and that no testing was ordered to determine if he had eaten food containing the botulinum toxin, which affects the nervous system and can cause paralysis and death.

Health officials continue to await results of laboratory tests on samples from another Maui man, Jon Stockton, 33, of Hana, who said he became ill after eating Cattle Drive canned chili last week. Okubo said the results could be available as early as today.

Both men purchased the canned chili at the Costco in Kahului. The products are included in a recall issued by manufacturer Castleberry's Food Co. in Augusta, Ga. Costco officials said the products were immediately pulled from shelves when an expanded recall was announced July 21, and that customers who purchased the recalled items are being notified.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday that an investigation has traced the source of botulism to a set of commercial-scale pressure cookers at a canning facility in Georgia.

This is the first outbreak of foodborne botulism in the United States associated with a commercial canning facility in about 30 years, the CDC said. Most cases involve home canning.

Botulism is a rare but serious illness caused by consuming foods tainted by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Symptoms include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing or muscle weakness. If untreated, the illness may progress from head to toe, with paralysis of the face, arms, breathing muscles, torso and legs.

So far, four confirmed cases of botulism related to the Castleberry's products have been reported, two each in Texas and Indiana, with a fifth suspected case in California.

Stockton said he became violently ill after eating Cattle Drive chili early last week, and went to Maui Memorial on Thursday with symptoms that included facial paralysis. He was released Saturday.

Regan said he consumed the same brand of chili July 20 and suffered severe stomach distress throughout that weekend. "It felt like I was kind of catching a cold. I didn't feel quite right, but I shrugged it off," he said yesterday. "I thought my body was fighting off the flu."

By the following Monday, Regan said, he was better but "I still felt tired and really lethargic throughout the whole week." On Thursday, he experienced blurred vision and then heard about the food recall and sought treatment at Maui Memorial.

Because no testing was done, Regan said, he doesn't know if he had botulism or not. "I'm not sure. I just know I didn't feel right, and when I heard about the other guy, it made me think about what I had been eating," he said.

Like Stockton, Regan said he was unaware that Cattle Drive brand chili was included in the recall, since the notices mentioned Castleberry's, a name unfamiliar to most consumers.

The FDA first issued a consumer advisory July 18, and the company subsequently recalled its Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original, Castleberry's Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original, and Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce. The recall was expanded July 21 to include 91 types of canned chili sauce, chili, other meat products, chicken products and dog food sold under Castleberry's brands and 25 other brand names.

Anyone with unopened cans of recalled products should dispose of the cans without opening or puncturing them.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.