Prairie home canners lose lids, temper
To you and I, this might seem much ado about nothing, but if you can food you'll likely understand what the controversy is about
ST. ANDREWS, MAN. - Some Prairie canners are in a jam. They've been left without lids that fit just as they've begun filling jars with their summer produce for the long winter months.
For years, Canadians have reused their Mason jars. But the metal rings and lids that seal the preserves can't be reused because of concern over food poisoning.
The tops, called gems, can fit the quart, two quart and pint sized jars.
But this year, an American home canning company stopped making the gem-sized lids. Bernardin Ltd. said the 78 mm tops were too expensive to make, and that demand was falling. It's the only North American supplier of gem lids.
Paulette Lysyshyn of Unity, Sask. has 2000 gem-sized jars stacked up in her pantry. She preserves 60 per cent of the food for her family of six every year to save money.
Now her jars, which cost about a dollar each, are useless. Lysyshyn can't afford to replace them and buy new equipment.
The company says demand for gem jars has been steadily dropping over the years. Lysyshyn says the company's decision is a bald-faced attempt to force canners to spend millions of dollars buying new jars, since the profit margin in lids is small.
Only on the Canadian Prairie would this even be an issue, but Bernardin has found itself in the middle of a full-fledged PR nightmare. Rotsa ruck....
