A lot, too, depends on whether you buy-in to the USDA's "big brother knows best" attitude.
For instance, the U.S. is the only country in the world which officially recommends against the wax sealing of soft spreads. Why? Cuz there's a very remote possibility that the seals won't work, and spoilage will occur. This is the same agency, btw, which says you do not have to sterilize jars used for jams and jellies.
They offer no figures on this, of course, because it's just a potential rather than real threat. And the spoilage mechanism with soft spreads (and other sugar preserved foods) is mold, which, unlike, say, botulism spores, is very visible.
In short, you know if jams, jellies, and marmalades are spoiled just by looking at them.
On the other hand, if you look at the actual figures, botulism is the greated scare tactic ever used by any government agency. The odds of contracting boutulism from properly handled home-canned foods are so slight as to be non-existent.
Remember, folks, when making a decision which way to go, that:
The USDA often self-contradicts itself regarding food safety. Different groups within the same office will give you advice that's 180 degrees apart.
And that this is the agency that says it's impossible to meet it's own nutrional standards unless you take supplements.
Gee. I wonder what we did for the 10,000 years before USDA existed. How did humanity ever survive?
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