Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Offers Free Canning Help
Nutrition service provides residents with testing of pressure canner gauges to ensure safe canned food.
August 24, 2023 (Barnstable, MA) – Cod Cooperative Extension offers free pressure canner gauge testing at the Extension office, located at 1358 Route 28, South Yarmouth. Testing should be part of every canner’s preharvest preparations because faulty gauges will give inaccurate pressure readings, which could lead to serious food-borne illnesses.
“Canning is a great way to extend the life of fresh garden foods, but over time, your canner’s dial gauge can change and give a false pressure reading. If the dial-gauge is not measuring the correct pressure, foods inside the pressure canner may be under-processed, which increases the risk of serious illness from botulism,” says Kim Concra, Nutrition and Food Safety Educator with Cooperative Extension.
Most brand gauges can be tested except for All American. For more info on testing and canning food, visit www.capecod.gov/canning.
ABOUT BARNSTABLE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CAPE COD COOPERATIVE EXTENSION: Cape Cod Cooperative Extension is the education department for Barnstable County. Educational programs focus on agriculture, marine resources, horticulture, aquaculture, natural resources, water quality, recycling, household hazardous waste, nutrition, food safety, youth development, and environmental education issues facing the county. Extension programs are conducted in Barnstable County in cooperation with the University of Massachusetts and The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution–Sea Grant program. Learn more at www.capecod.gov/extension
ABOUT BARNSTABLE COUNTY REGIONAL GOVERNMENT OF CAPE COD Barnstable County provides exemplary government functions and services to keep our community healthy and safe, promote sustainable growth, and offer a proactive, open government that enhances the quality of life for the citizens of Barnstable County.