Holiday baking is a staple for many gift givers, but bread makers should take caution: Making bread in canning jars creates a readymade package, but poses life-threatening risks.
According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, some bread and cake recipes call for baking in canning jars and then closing with a canning lid. However, these recipes have very little or no acid, providing the perfect habitat for the growth of Clostridium botulinum and its toxin that causes botulism poisoning. Botulism is a sometimes fatal foodborne illness that paralyzes muscles, including respiratory muscles.
“When breads and cakes in jars are made for sale commercially by reputable companies, additives, preservatives and processing controls (that are) not available for home recipes are used,” according to University Extension Food Specialists from the University of Georgia. “Safety tests would have been conducted for each specific recipe for commercial products.”
FoodWorld 