Homemade food gifts are thoughtful holiday (or anytime) gifts. But how do you know if the food gift you are giving or receiving is safe to eat? Not everything that is made commercially can be made at home safely. This is especially true when it comes to canned food gifts—jams and jellies, butters, soups, pickles, salsa, pesto, barbecue sauce, flavored vinegars or oils, and more.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation offers these guidelines to evaluate the safety of home-canned gifts:
LOW RISK. Fruit jams and jellies, fruit spreads, and whole fruits like peaches and pears are low-risk because their natural acidity and high sugar content provide an extra measure of safety. Jams or jellies made with artificial sweeteners or with gelatin would be exceptions. Those made with artificial sweeteners must be made with an appropriate gelling agent and stored per directions; gelatin based products must be refrigerated or frozen.
HIGH RISK. Low-acid meats, vegetables and mixtures pose a higher risk because these products can support the growth of the botulism bacteria if improperly prepared and/or processed. These products must be prepared with a tested recipe and processed in a pressure canner.
HIGHEST RISK. Mixtures of acidic and low-acid foods such as salsas, some pickled products, pesto, soups, sauces, herb and oil mixes, and cream-based soups are of highest risk for potential botulism if they are not prepared with a tested recipe and properly processed in a jar of proper size. There are NO tested recipes for canning vegetable based butters, such as Pumpkin Butter, pesto, fudge/chocolate sauce, cream soups, or herb/vegetable oils.
For any home canned product to be unquestionably safe, the product must be prepared using a USDA approved and TESTED RECIPE explicitly followed without exception. Further, gifts canned in decorative, untested, jars or with unconventional lids should also be suspect. A sealed lid doesn’t mean a canned product is safe.
Another NO in the world of canned gifts are the so called ‘canned breads and cakes. Referring to a previous blog, ‘Home-Canned’ Cakes and Breads for Gift Giving – A Big NO, these products involve no canning per say and are not safe in any way. “Many cake and quick bread recipes often have little or no acid resulting in a pH range above 4.6, a pH level that will support the growth of pathogenic organisms that cause foodborne illnesses. Of greatest concern is the microorganism Clostridium botulinum (botulism) growing in the jars. Conditions inside the jar are ripe for hazardous bacterium given that cake and bread recipes may include fruits, liquids, or vegetables which increase moisture content AND the practice does not remove all the oxygen from the jar. The two factors create a rich environment for microorganisms to thrive.”
If you are the recipient of a food gift, be gracious and thankful for the gift as it is the thought that counts. If you are comfortable, it is appropriate to ask a few kind questions if you know the giver well; it may seem ungrateful to ask the same of a lesser known acquaintance. If there is any doubt, throw it out and don’t bring up the issue again.
If you are the giver of a homemade food gift, particularly a home canned food, know without a doubt that the gift you are giving is explicitly safe—it has been prepared with a USDA approved and tested recipe and processed appropriately. Jarred gifts should also include a clean, rust-free ring to avoid accidental loosening of the flat lid.
Handmade gifts are the best kind, particularly when they’re edible. They are very personal and truly an act of love. Besides canned products, consider frozen or dehydrated foods, dry mixes in a jar or bag, sweet or savory nut mixes, candy, flavored popcorn, fresh breads or rolls, cookies, crackers, granola, gingerbread anything, or chocolate bark combinations just to name a few and, all of which, would be without the potential of harmful microorganisms to cause a foodborne illness or worse.
Here’s to keeping the holidays ‘jolly’ with safe food gifts!
Was looking out for options for sending homemade food items to my daughter for Christmas. This blog gave me a fair idea about what products will be best for sending out to her as she stays in another country for her studies. However, I do not agree pickle as a high risk food. It is definately high risk in terms of shipping, but not in terms of perishability. Homemade pickle is best and stays fresh for quite a long time as it contains natural probiotic bacteria.
Daisy, thank you for your feedback. Another item to consider for shipping is biscotti; biscotti is an excellent shipper. In regard to pickles as a safe gift: when pickles are brined sufficiently with enough vinegar and the jar is properly processed and sealed, they should be safe. The trouble comes when the canning process isn’t performed correctly. If any of the canning steps aren’t followed exactly, a jar of pickles could become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria like botulism. Botulism comes from soil and may be present on produce as well; espcially any that lay on the ground. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), botulism is rare but many of the cases can be traced back to improper home canning and preserving.