Garlic in oil? No-no-no....

Extreme care must be taken when preparing flavored oils with garlic or when storing garlic in oil. I agree with the following statement made by the Cooperative Extension Program at the University of California, Calaveras County:

"Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism toxin (low acidity, no free oxygen in the oil, and warm temperatures). The same hazard exists for roasted garlic stored in oil. At least three outbreaks of botulism associated with garlic-in-oil mixtures have been reported in North America."

According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/), peeled garlic cloves may be submerged in oil and stored in the freezer for several months. Definitely, do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. By law in the United States, commercially prepared garlic-in-oil has been prepared using strict guidelines and must contain citric or phosphoric acid to increase the acidity. Unfortunately, there is no easy or reliable method to acidify garlic in the home. Acidifying garlic in vinegar is a lengthy and highly variable process and therefore carries risks with it; a whole clove of garlic covered with vinegar can take from three days to more than one week to sufficiently acidify. As an alternative, properly dried garlic cloves may be safely added to flavor oils.

Given all of this, I think that you should be safe rather than sorry...not only would I not eat the green garlic, but I'd also discard the entire garlic-in-oil mixture.

whfoods.org