Black growth on jar lids

I have been raw packing and canning meat for years and have never encountered this before. I am finding a powdery black growth on parts of the canning lids inside the jars. It ranges from the size of a pencil eraser to covering about half the jar lid. The meat still smells fine, but I have freaked out and pitched it. These are batches that are only a few months old. I once found a growth like that on home canned corn and pitched it all, but have been told the product is still safe. What is your opinion? What do you think it is? Any ideas how I can prevent it? NOTHING in my process has changed!

Cheryl Pickford
Adrian, Michigan

This is usually only a chemical reaction on the underside of the jar lid. I know it looks bad, but I’ve never pitched food because of it. And I’m still alive. Seriously, it’s nothing to worry about. — Jackie

Woodpeckers

We are having a unusual and very annoying problem with our home in the mountains. The woodpeckers just love to peck at our home. They have even reached the drywall in the upstairs! This house was vacant for a number of years before we moved in it. I had thought there were mice in the upstairs wall but I heard chirping the other day inside the wall. How do we get rid of these beautiful but annoying birds and how do we get them to stop pecking holes in our home? Any ideas? I just saw a very young woodpecker on the side of the house and threw a stick at it, but he or she came right back and starting pecking again!

Maida Gaddis
Bonanza, Oregon

Woodpeckers peck homes for three reasons: proclaiming territory by drumming, drilling for insects, or nesting. You need to determine which problem you have. If it is drumming, usually scare tactics such as placing garden plastic owls, pinwheels, and other scary objects near the home will often work. If it is drilling for insect larvae, you need to address the problem with spray insecticides or by having an exterminator evaluate your problem. Placing suet and other easily accessible woodpecker food in trees away from your house will lure them away while the problem is fixed. Nesting results in drilling holes in the side of your house and even rearing babies between the outside and inside walls. Scare tactics such as reflective tape, plastic owls, recordings of distressed birds, etc. often work. Be sure to cover every attempted hole with metal or wire right away when you notice the damage. Often the birds will give up and move on to natural nesting sites. — Jackie

4 COMMENTS

  1. mine was like a hard black blob which ate a hole through the snap lid. It left a powdery sediment. I was too worried about the relish so chucked it. Then I saw the beginnings of it again in a new jar. Think we will eat it , hope we live

  3. My folks had the same trouble with their siding years ago (30) in Minnesota and their yard was included in the Winter Bird count every year. They unfortuately had to dispatch with a couple (lots of damage), spray the house for insects (painted cedar siding) and patch and paint the holes. I had the same problem on mine – around old windows. I took down all my suet and we had to put tin around the windows to slow down the damage two years ago. Last summer we totally resided the house with fiber cement and I am happily feeding my birds again…!

  4. in reply to Cheryl and Black growth on jar lids , are you using ball lids/rings ?
    In the last couple of seasons, using the ball lids/rings I’ve found a lot of this black crud also had problems with rust. I took back a package of lids because the “rubber” was only on part of each lid, Don’t know whats going on with ball but I”m an unhappy former customer.

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