Did you know. . . (with update)

That botulism is the Latin word for sausage? And that "food poisoning" was originally named "sausage poisoning" (botulism) because a widespread incidence of food poisoning was linked to bad sausage? Check Google. Isn't the internet wonderful? Because I wasn't concerned enough that the sausage I just put in my red beans had a white slime coating. I washed it off, and the sausage smelled fine, but as I was putting it in, I thought, 'This is not smart. I'm going to regret this. I won't be able to eat this with a good conscience." And then I hit Google! So I am now cooking a delicious-smelling pot of potentially contaminated supper. Wonderful. To top it off, I realized that the sausage expired today. Sweet.

UPDATE: Well, my husband was the brave one. . . or the guinea pig, whichever you prefer. I would not have let him eat it had I not become convinced that cooking for 4 hours at a vigorous simmer had not killed anything that needed to be killed, or had I thought it very likely that the sausage was bad to begin with. So he ate a couple of pieces of sausage the day it was cooked, brought some beans the next day, and by Saturday, I was confident enough to eat some and feed it to my son. My daughter did not have any. However, we all survived. Not the trace of a stomach ailment. Hooray! I hate wasting food. But I don't like taking chances, either!!