NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

July 1, 1999

Y2K Could Spell Trouble for Inexperienced Home Canners

Recent national news stories point to significant increases in the sales of MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat), the military fare that can be eaten safely without the conveniences of heat or refrigeration. Consumer analysts believe that the upswing in MRE sales is likely due to fears surrounding the so-called Y2K problem, the much-debated ability of computers to function this coming January when the machines' digit counters flip to the year 2000.

If the MRE trend is Y2K driven, it seems logical to expect that more consumers than usual may attempt to preserve food via home-canning methods. In fact, reports already surfacing in North Dakota seem to confirm a growing interest in home canning. Unfortunately, some inexperienced home canners may be creating more potential problems for themselves than their efforts are solving, says a food safety specialist at North Dakota State University.

"In some counties, people are attempting to can carrots in a pressure canner without adding any water to the canning jars. There have also been reports of people canning meat in a water-bath canner instead of in a pressure canner," says Julie Garden-Robinson, extension food and nutrition specialist at NDSU. "Both of these practices are extremely dangerous because the resulting canned products could kill."

Liquid is an essential ingredient in canning recipes, because it is the liquid that allows heat to penetrate the food being canned. Heat inactivates toxin-producing spores that could otherwise cause foodborne illnesses—particularly botulism, Garden-Robinson explains. But rather than 212 F, a temperature achievable with a water-bath canner, meat products, other low-acid foods such as peas, carrots and corn, and most mixtures of food must be processed at 240 F to kill bacterial spores.

"The way to reach temperatures above the boiling point of liquid is through the use of a pressure canner," Garden-Robinson says.

North Dakota has not been immune from outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. In fact, a 1931 incident involving improperly canned peas killed 12 people in the northeastern area of the state. At the time, the outbreak was the worst home-canning catastrophe in U.S. history, Garden-Robinson says.

"Even home-canned salsa can be dangerous, despite the fact that it contains a lot of tomatoes, which are usually high in acid. Some newer varieties of tomatoes have a lower acid content. Tomatoes can be safely processed in a water-bath canner if proper amounts of lemon juice or vinegar are added. Processing-time guidelines must also be closely followed," Garden-Robinson says. "Problems arise when people make up their own proportions of low-acid ingredients such as onions and green peppers, which reduce the overall acid content of salsa. That's why it's so important to use research-tested recipes."

For more information about how to can foods safely and for research-tested recipes, contact a county office of the NDSU Extension Service. Those with Internet access can find home-canning information at http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/foods.htm.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187

Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136