Well Preserved
The Well Preserved news
column is prepared by Lan
caster County Cooperative
Extension. It includes food
preservation information and
questions.
Major Canning Sins
Questions often arise as to the
safety of changing canning rec
ipes and canning procedures.
Charlotte P. Brennand, Exten
sion Food Safety Specialist, for
Utah State University Exten
sion has listed potentially dead
ly canning practices.
Making up your own can
ning recipe is unsafe because
without scientific testing, you
will not know how long the
product needs to be processed
to safely destroy bacteria and
other spoilage organisms^
Changing ingredients in a
recipe can be dangerous. Add
ing extra starch, flour or other
thickeners to a recipe will
change the rate of heat penetra
tion into the product and can
result in undercooking. Types
of thickeners should not be sub
stituted for one another for the
same reason. Adding extra
onion, chili, bell peppers, or
other vegetables to salsas dilut
es the acidity of the salsa and
can result in botulism poison
ing. While the vinegar in a
salsa is a high acid food, the
vegetables used along with the
tomatoes are low acid and any
excess increases the ph level be
yond a safe point. The same is
true of pickle making. Don’t in
crease the total amount of low
acid vegetables added to the
product. There are exceptions
to the rule of never changing a
canning recipe. It is safe to
change the salt level in any
thing except pickles, to change
the sugar level in syrup used
for canned fruit, to add extra
vinegar or lemon juice, to de
crease any vegetable except to
matoes in salsas, and to substi
tute bell, long green, or
jalapeno peppers for each other
in salsa recipes as long as the
total amount is not increased.
Using the oven instead of a
water bath for processing is un
safe because the food will be
under processed since air is not
as good a conductor of heat as
water or steam as in a pressure
canner. The jars may also blow
up in the oven. Make altitude
adjustments if you live 1000
feet or more above seal level be
cause boiling temperatures are
lower at higher altitudes and
the products will be under
cooked unless more time is al
lowed.
Pressure canners must be
used correctly. Lack of venting
the pressure canner before add
ing the pressure plug results in
air pockets which will not reach
high enough temperatures.
Have your pressure canner dial
gauge tested annually. If the
dial gauge is inaccurate, the
food will be under processed
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Admission includes 2 shows on stage nightly (Wed -Sat)
Children under 12 Admitted Free
Sunday free will offering
Mon $2 00 - per person
Tues and Wed - $3 00 per person
Thurs, Friday and Sat -$4 00 per person
Parking Charge: Free across from the fairgounds and
Handicap parking grounds
Saturday, August 2 - 4-H Round Up
Sunday, August 3 - 2 00 PM - Mountain Man Contest
Union County Sportsmen's Club
Weikert
Monday, August 4 - 7 00 PM - Middleswarth Potato Chip
7M Sprint Car - Todd Hestor - Driver
730 PM Kiddie Pedal Powered Tractor Pull
Tuesday, August 5 - 7 00 PM - 4 Wheel Drive Vehicle Pull
7 30 PM - Miss Union County Pageant
Wednesday, August 6 - 7 00 & 9 00 PM - Mustang Sally
Thursday, August 7 - 7 00 PM - 4H & FFA Dairy
Showing Contest
7 00 & 9 00 PM - Mel McDaniel
Friday, August 8 - 7 00 PM - 4-H & FFA Livestock Sale
7 00 PM - Stock Farm Tractor Pull
7 30 & 10 00 PM - Shannon Lawson
Saturday, August 9 - 7 30 & 10 00 PM - Rick K & The
Allmghters
Sunday, August 10 -1 00 PM - Ram Date for any Stock
Farm Tractor Pull Only
Ride Specials; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
6 00 PM to 9 30 PM • Ride all the rides for $lO 00
w/coupon $8 50
Saturday - 2 00 PM to 6 00 PM - Ride all
the rides for $lO 00 w/coupon $8 50
For more information call 570/966-4661 : 570/966-0637
and bacterial spores could sur
vive. Cooling the pressure can
ner under running water results
in under processed food. A cal
culation of the cooking time in
cludes the residual heat during
the normal cool-down period as
part of the heat process.
Letting “hot pack” food cool
before processing causes under
processing. The heat curves are
based on the food being hot at
the beginning of the processing.
Note that canned meat, vege
table or salsa which are under
processed can cause botulism.
Not all tomatoes have an
adequate acid level especially if
the vine is dead. This can result
in botulism poisoning. Increase
the acidity of canned tomatoes
to a safe level by adding bottled
lemon juice to the jar before
adding the tomatoesl table
spoon per pint and 2 table
spoons per quart.
If you have food preservation
questions, a home economist is
available to answer questions
on Wednesdays 10 a.m.-l p.m.,
call (717) 394-6851 or write
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion, Lancaster County, 1383
Arcadia Rd., Rm.l, Lancaster,
PA, 17601.
High Cholesterol In Early Childhood
Predicts High Cholesterol Later
HONOLULU, Hawaii
Three- and four-year-old
children who have high cho
lesterol levels are likely to
have high cholesterol levels
later in childhood, which is a
concern because elevated
cholesterol levels that appear
early in life tend to persist to
adulthood, researchers re
port at the American Heart
Association’s Second Asia
Pacific Scientific Forum.
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OMAR FISHER
434 NEWPORT RD,
RONKS, PA 17572
Replacing Milk With
Sweetened Drinks Associated
With Weight Gain And
Reduced Nutrient Intake
PHILADELPHIA A new re
port in the June 2003 issue of the
Journal of Pediatrics suggests
that soda and other sugar-filled
drinks are an important factor in
the development of childhood
obesity.
The study, conducted by re
searchers at Cornell University,
confirmed that children who
drank more than 16 ounces of
sweetened drinks a day drank
less milk and gained more weight
over two months than those who
drank less than 16 ounces of
sweetened drinks a day.
The study of children ages 6 to
13 found that excessive sweet
ened drink consumption was as
sociated with a decrease in milk
consumption, resulting in higher
energy intake and weight gain
and insufficient intake of protein,
calcium, phosphorus, magnesium
and zinc, and to a lesser extent
Vitamin A.
The study followed 30 children
five days a week for two months,
the longest time period a study
has monitored children’s bever
age consumption. Researchers
defined sweetened drinks as
soda, fruit punch, bottled tea or
drinks made from fruit-flavored
powders, such as lemonade.
associate research scientist with
Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons, and
colleagues presented data on 448
children enrolled in New York
Head Start preschool programs
who were following the He '
Start program. Health’- °
preschool-based prog l
service intervene
education de?''
tary intake -
fat in schi
nutrition 1
aid , ;se
vlettgc in chiiklK'v
was initiated
in 1995-97,
when the
children were
3 and 4. The
children were
followed for
five years,
until they
were about 8.
The re
searchers
measured the
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 26, 2003-B7
“This study is another remind
er of the important role beverage
selection plays in the childhood
obesity epidemic,” said Patricia
Purcell, CEO of Mid-Atlantic
Dairy Association. “Empty cal
ories from sweetened beverages
are taking the place of nutrient
dense foods such as milk. Simple
steps by parents, such as making
healthier options available at
meals, can have a huge impact
on a child’s long-term health.”
The children who drank sweet
ened drinks didn’t eat fewer cal
ories from solid food and,
therefore, consumed about 244
more calories a day than children
who did not drink sweetened
drinks. This resulted in extra
weight gain.
“Children who drink primarily
soda and other sugar-filled
drinks consume less milk, which
can be devastating from a nutri
tional standpoint,” Purcell said.
“Doctors and dietitians agree
that consuming three servings of
dairy a day is critical for good
health. Milk provides a powerful
package of calcium plus eight es
sential nutrients that kids need to
build stronger bones and better
bodies.”
children’s total cholesterol levels
at enrollment, as well as their lev
els of high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) cholesterol (the “good”
cholesterol), and levels of trigly
cerides.
Children with the highest lev
-ls of cholesterol when they were
3 and 4 tended to be those with
tne highest levels five years later.
Specifically, for those with cho
lesterol levels in the top 10 per
cent in preschool, more than half
(57 percent) continued to have
cholesterol levels in the top 10
percent.
ne'tlih
, die
’■rated
it '*
The stud'
Children with “high normal”
cholesterol levels in preschool,
with total cholesterol levels mea
suring on average 164 milligrams
per deciliter at ages 3 and 4, were
five times more likely to have
high cholesterol levels when they
were 8. Similarly, preschool chil
dren with low levels of HDL,
tended to have low levels of HDL
later. High HDL levels reflect a
lower risk of heart disease.
Good eating habits and re
stricting fat and cholesterol to
lower heart disease risk
need to begin early in
life.
Many Head Start pre
schools are practicing
heart-smart nutrition.
The Healthy Start edu
cational curriculum is
also being used in some
centers and is available
for any school at
www.healthy-start.com.