I'm not OVERLY paranoid...

Just paranoid in a healthy way!

When it comes to food, I have a bit of a Hippocratic Oath--"First do no harm." The food tasting good is secondary to it not killing anybody or making them ill. This means I wash my hands any time they get near raw meat, will never process my own meats or vegetables (ACK! BOTULISM!), and won't let anybody eat things with raw eggs (like cookie dough... unless I make it with the Egg Beaters things that have been pasteurized).

Here's why I mention this:

A few months ago, I got an e-mail from my LDS ward about steam canners and where to find them--apparently, at an Enrichment Night I forgot about (oops), they talked about canning jam... using a steam canner. I immediately went "OH NO! NOT THE UNAUTHORIZED, UNTESTED, NOT RECOMMENDED OR APPROVED STEAM CANNER!" And then I sent an e-mail with a link to USU's extension page talking about steam canners and such.

Then, I get an e-mail talking about the upcoming "Super Saturday" activity, where there will be crafts and things. One of the items was described as this:

Cake in a Jar

Bake a personal sized cake in a jar - the seal will keep it good for up to a year! Great for a gift or a lunchbox treat.

Is this SAFE? Am I freaking out for no reason? I don't see how you could POSSIBLY process CAKE. If you can't process pureed pumpkin (which you can't, by the way--don't even try it!), I don't think cake, as a non-liquid item, would process well. And a year? Just doesn't sound like a good idea.

What do you think? Am I freaking out over nothing here, or do you think they're simply valid concerns? My hubby thinks it's valid concerns, but then, he's been married to me for 5 1/2 years, so I don't know if that's accurate or he's just used to me being paranoid about these things!

UPDATE 10/24: USU Extension says NO to canning breads and cakes. I'm not crazy! Yay!

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/newsletter/Food_Safety_Bulletin_No__008_(2007).pdf