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What goes wrong

The number was read without its qualifier

On this page13
A finished equilibrium pH. Three words, and two get dropped.

The pH was measured too early

The definitions say a finished equilibrium pH, which is the pH after the acid has distributed through the solids.

So the brine was measured instead of the food

A liquid reading taken soon after packing will be more acid than the solids, which makes the product look safer than it is.

And finished was dropped too

The finished product, after whatever process it goes through, rather than the mixture as packed.

The water activity gate was ignored

Both definitions require a water activity greater than 0.85. A food below that is outside both, which is where a dried product sits.

4.6 was read as a quality threshold

It is a boundary between two regulatory parts. Above it is low-acid canned foods under part 113, which is more demanding and is not described here.

The scope was assumed

Part 114 governs commercial processors of acidified foods. A household preserving for itself is not one.

And a household that sells was assumed to be federal

It is governed by state cottage food law, which varies and is what actually decides what may be sold.

The coding requirement was skipped

Each container or product shall be marked with an identifying code permanently visible to the naked eye, carrying establishment, product and year, day and period.

Or satisfied with a date

A date code supplies the when and neither the where nor the what. Three facts are required.

And permanently was read loosely

A sticker that peels and an ink that smears are both marks and neither is permanently visible to the naked eye. On glass the options are narrow.

We supply no coding and no lot number

Which is consistent across this catalog and is named in the compounding property too. The jar is ours and the code is not.

Read the definition, then ask a process authority

The number is quoted here from the text. What to do with it is not a packaging question.

References

21 CFR 114.3. Acidified foods are defined as "low-acid foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added", which "have a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85 and have a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below". Low-acid foods are defined as "any foods, other than alcoholic beverages, with a finished equilibrium pH greater than 4.6 and a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85." Part 114 governs commercial processors of acidified foods; low-acid canned foods fall under part 113, which is not described here. law.cornell.edu
21 CFR 114.80(b): "Each container or product shall be marked with an identifying code permanently visible to the naked eye." The section continues that "The required identification shall specify in code the establishment where the product was packed, the product contained therein, and the year, day, and period during which it was packed", and that "The packing period code shall be changed often enough to enable ready identification of lots during their sale and distribution." Paragraph (a)(4) provides that "Testing and examinations of containers shall occur often enough to ensure that the container suitably protects the food from leakage or contamination." law.cornell.edu
Written from 21 CFR 114.3 and 114.80 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Part 114 governs commercial processors of acidified foods; home canning for a household is not commercial processing, and low-acid canned foods fall under part 113 which is a different and more demanding part not described here. Nothing on these pages tells anyone how to preserve anything, and cottage food laws, which are state law, are what actually govern a home preserver selling jars. There is no two-piece canning lid anywhere in this catalog.