When preserving food, begin with good-quality fresh foods. Quality varies among varieties of fruits and vegetables. Examine food carefully for freshness and wholesomeness. Discard diseased and moldy food. Trim small diseased lesions or spots from food.
Can fruits and vegetables within 6 to 12 hours after harvest. If you must delay the canning of other fresh produce, keep it in a shady, cool place or in the refrigerator for one to two days.
Most bacteria, yeasts, and molds are difficult to remove from food surfaces. Washing fresh food reduces their numbers only slightly. Peeling root crops, underground stem crops, and tomatoes reduces their numbers greatly.
www.rrc.k-state.edu/preservation/index.html
