Inflation has always been a real killjoy, but now it may have a side effect of botulism. On canning boards (yes, that’s a real thing) across the country, posts have noted that the white wine and apple cider vinegar you usually buy has been ratcheted down from a 5% concentration to 4%. That might not seem dire, but let me explain why it’s worse than it sounds.
The vinegar you buy in the store—not the fancy bottled kind with raspberries floating in it, but the big plastic bottles—have always been standardized at 5% acidity. Every recipe that’s been approved for canning by the FDA and USDA (and the fine folks at Ball) has been based on this 5% acidity. A 4% acidity is dramatically less, and it throws off the acidity of your canned goods.
Why is acidity important?
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Acidity is what makes certain foods safe to be shelf stable. To achieve that, we often acidify foods, whether through citric acid or—you guessed it—vinegar.
Primarily, the acid serves to prevent the food from growing bacteria, and when bacteria grows in canned food, it’s serious business. While botulism is not a common problem in the U.S. anymore due to advances in science, canning advisories, and equipment, it still happens, and botulism poisoning can cause serious long-lasting problems, including death.
You can certainly still process your jars using your bottle of 4% vinegar, and the acidity level will not affect whether the jars seal, but that doesn’t make them safe. The acidity level does, so as we hit peak canning season, you may be sitting on jars of perfectly sealed, under-acidified foods.
Why has the formula changed?
First, it hasn’t changed in all vinegar, so you have to check your bottles. The problem is that the appearance of these bottles at all is alarming. The 5% was the industry standard; it’s as if you pulled up to the gas pump and the economy gas had just enough ethanol to kill your car engine. You wouldn’t know to bother to check the concentration of the gas; you’ve always trusted it was the right level to keep the car going.
This is probably a result of inflation. As food costs go up and companies struggle to keep product costs down, someone thought it was a good idea to cheap out on the acidity level of vinegar.
Can you use 4% vinegar for anything?
The other uses of vinegar—namely, cleaning—are unaffected by the acidity level. Go forth and mop. Just make sure you’re not using this discount vin for any preservation purposes.
What to do if you’ve used 4% vinegar in your canning
The National Center for Home Food Preservation (also a real thing) has issued a flash news alert with guidance for these situations. The bad news is, your canned goods are screwed. You should toss them, unless you canned it in the last twenty four hours, and then you can put it in the fridge and treat it like fresh food, which means you need to consume it within a few days.