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The INDEPENDENT, August 2, 2007
Home-canning information should be research-based and up-to-date
The food preservation sea-
son is approaching. Be pre-
pared by gathering up-to-date
instructions for home canning.
Although other preservation
methods such as drying and
freezing may allow some room
for creativity, canning must be
done with precision.
Home-canned foods will be
safe to eat if you follow re-
search-based instructions ex-
actly. It’s especially important to
can low-acid foods (such as
meat, fish, vegetables, and
poultry) correctly to avoid botu-
lism, a sometimes fatal food-
borne illness. You must use a
pressure canner.
The type of canner and
length of time needed are influ-
enced by several factors in-
cluding the acidity of the food
(or food mixture), the way it’s
prepared, and the size of the
jar. Jars of food must reach a
high enough temperature to kill
harmful bacteria. To determine
a safe processing time, re-
searchers record the tempera-
ture inside samples of jars dur-
ing the canning process.
Safe home-canning recom-
mendations are developed by
researchers in food science
laboratories. The U.S. Depart-
Free Kidney screenings at Kelso’s Cowlitz County Fair
The Dialysis Staff from St.
John Medical Center will be
working hard at the Cowlitz
County Fair this Saturday, Au-
gust 4, providing free screen-
ings for Chronic Kidney Dis-
ease (CKD), which may include
a serum creatinine blood test.
The free kidney screenings will
take place from noon to 6:00
p.m. at the fairgrounds.
“We are focusing on reach-
ing people who might not other-
wise have an opportunity to de-
termine their risk of kidney dis-
ease,” says Bonnie Brice, Clin-
ical Manager of PeaceHealth’s
Dialysis Center. “We want to
reach people who are under-in-
sured, or have no health insur-
ance at all. These are the peo-
ple who are most likely to be
unaware that they are at risk of
kidney disease.”
High blood pressure and di-
abetes are the leading causes
of kidney disease. Sadly, over
half of the people who will go
on dialysis this year could have
avoided it if they had taken
A GALIS
N ETWORK
S ERVICES
proper preventive steps. Be-
cause the early stages of kid-
ney disease show few symp-
toms, it is important to begin
regular monitoring through sim-
ple blood and urine tests. Many
cases of kidney failure can be
delayed or prevented through
early diagnosis and interven-
tion.
“People with high blood
pressure, diabetes, or a family
history of kidney disease are at
particularly high risk,” says
Mary Jansma, Nurse Practi-
tioner at PeaceHealth’s Dialy-
sis Center. “Early detection can
help prevent the progression of
kidney disease to kidney fail-
ure. Just as important, kidney
disease can also cause hyper-
tension. Heart disease is the
major cause of death for people
with CKD. There are so many
good reasons for people to find
out if they are at risk!”
In America, Chronic Kidney
Disease afflicts 20 million
Americans – one in every nine
adults – and an additional 20
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Heather Ln. to Cherry St., Downtown Vernonia
Timber Rd./Hwy 47 Jct. to the Golf Course
million are at high risk.
“There is no precise way for
us to know how many people
are at risk of Chronic Kidney
Disease,” says Jansma. “There
are so many people who don’t
have access to health screen-
ings for CKD – working men
and women without health
care, or people still a little too
young for Medicare. If these
people will come to the Fair this
coming Saturday, we’ll give
them a free screening to find
out if they are at risk.”
The screening will include a
review of lifestyle and risk fac-
tors, and may also include a
serum creatinine blood test,
provided by an on-site phle-
botomist. Additionally, every-
one who participates in the kid-
ney screening will be entered
into a drawing for a handmade
afghan.
Admission to the Fair is free.
The fairgrounds are located at
the intersection of 7th Avenue
and Washington Street in West
Kelso.
ment of Agriculture has long
been the major source of re-
search-based home-canning
instructions.
Recommenda-
tions are published in The
Complete Guide to Home Can-
ning. View it online from the
National Center for Home Food
Preservation at the University
of Georgia at http://www.uga.ed
u/nchfp/ (click on “publica-
tions”).
The Extension Services of
Oregon, Washington, Idaho
have published the USDA
home-canning recommenda-
tions, many of which are online.
Check the OSU website at http:
//extension.oregonstate.edu/ca
talog (click on “nutrition and
foods”) for publications on can-
ning tomatoes, seafood, and
smoked seafood as well as
pickling vegetables. These
publications about canning
vegetables, fruit, salsa, and
meat and poultry also are avail-
able for purchase via the OSU
Raw fruits and vegetables
have been linked to several
foodborne illness outbreaks in
recent years. A study conduct-
ed at Tennessee State Univer-
sity has suggested that rubbing
and brushing fresh produce un-
der cold running tap water has
the potential to reduce surface
contamination with harmful
bacteria such as Salmonella,
E. coli O157:H7, and Listeria
monocytogenes.
The researchers studied let-
tuce, broccoli, apples, and
Attention:
Drinkers take note!
During Jamboree there will be free
rides available from the Vernonia
Police for anyone driving
while intoxicated.*
from anywhere using Agalis' Webmail.
All Agalis Internet accounts include:
Email accounts, Email Virus & SPAM filtering,
FREE Internet related support.
Owned and Operated in Vernonia since 1998
Source: Carolyn Raab. Extension
food and nutrition specialist, Ore-
gon State University.
Rinse fruits & veggies for safety
Check your email
Website: www.agalis.net
Phone: 503-201-1846
website. Pacific Northwest and
other publications are also
available at OSU Extension
county offices. There are kept
updated based on current re-
search.
Recent Ball and Kerr home-
canning publications also are
based on USDA recommenda-
tions. It’s very important to use
up-to-date editions because
home-canning recommenda-
tions have changed through the
years. Use editions published
after 1988, when many
changes were made.
Don’t assume that all home-
canning recommendations on
the Internet are safe. Be espe-
cially cautious about personal
websites, recipe sites, and
cooking exchanges. Ask a food
safety expert (such as OSU Ex-
tension) before using them.
They may not be based on re-
search.
* Straight to the County Jail
This ad sponsored by The Independent
tomatoes. It was harder to
clean lettuce and broccoli be-
cause grooves provided more
surface area for the bacteria to
attach.
The research found that it’s
more cost effective to clean
fresh produce with cold tap wa-
ter than with other homemade or
commercial cleaning solutions.
Stem and blossom ends of
apples were more contaminat-
ed than the surface after soak-
ing and rinsing. The re-
searchers therefore advise dis-
carding the ends of fresh pro-
duce (including tomatoes and
melons) after rinsing.
Source: Carolyn Raab. Extension
food and nutrition specialist, Ore-
gon State University.