I remember in highschool home ec. class my teacher was explaining all the different types of food poisoning; one of them was botulism; caused by anarobic bacteria growing inside dented food cans.

Anyways - the symptoms of botulism are death.

So if you die - it was botulism all along.


EDIT:

Yeah I eat a lot of things I shouldn't; I hate wasting food ... I haven't died but my anus has burned something aweful on many occasion. I can deffinately say that spooning out the mold from turned speghetti sauce does not make the sauce any less spoiled.