Uh oh! Rethinking Jar Lids
After all my hoopla about using hydrogen peroxide to clean the inside of tomato sauce jar lids, I’m now having second thoughts. Sorry to get prematurely excited.
A few days ago, after “bleaching” the tomato stains out of a couple of lids with hydrogen peroxide, I noticed that the smell was not completely gone. So I added another round of hydrogen peroxide and left them in the sun some more. Well, this time, not only did the tomato break down, but so did the coating on the inside of the lid! And that got me thinking…
Could the coating on the inside of prepared foods jar lids be the same stuff (polycarbonate) that lines the insides of aluminum cans these days? And if so, does using hydrogen peroxide on it cause it to leach Bisphenol-A?
I’ve been trying to find information on the web about what that coating is, but I’m having a hard time finding a definitive answer. So I sent e-mails to several companies (Classico, Newman’s Own, Francesco Rinaldi) asking for information about the inside coating. I also e-mailed Jarden, the company that makes Ball canning jars and lids, to find out what their lids are made of.
Scott at Least Footprint wrote that he reuses spaghetti sauce jars and buys new lids for them. Maybe this is the better option, if the original lids are lined with something we don’t want to reuse.
Other options I have found online are to line the inside of the lid with beeswax or to put a layer of parchment paper between the lid and the jar.
I will continue to update as I get further information. If anyone else has information about the coating inside the lids of glass jars, please share with the class. We are all here to learn.
The glass jars I ordered from uline indicate that the jar lids are lined with Plastisol in the steel caps they sell. I found your website when looking up how to wash these before use. Cheers.
I always buy replacement lids from http://www.nakpunar.com . They have wide variety lids in different colors. If I have specific jars they check it for you.
I boil my jar lids! Just in water. Usually for about 20 min but some (like salsa lids) take longer. I usually pull them out with tongs at the 20 min mark, run them under cold water, give them a sniff and put them back in if necessary. This works for about 95% of all my lids. However there is always one that just won’t come clean. I’m not sure if this is unsafe in any way but it’s how I’ve always done it. Hope this helps!