Continuous on-line quality, food safety control and quality assesment throughout the process.

 
 
Continuous on-line quality, food safety control and quality assesment throughout the process.

 


 
 


The principles of “canning” were discovered in France. In 1795 Napoleon, desperate to feed his large army safely as it moved across Europe, offered a reward to anyone who could demonstrate a new method of preserving food in a form suitable for issue to the armed services.

In 1809 a frenchman, Nicholas-Francois Appert, was awarded the prize for developing a method of preserving fruit, vegetables, meat and fish by sealing them in heavy glass bottles and plunging them quickly into boiling water.

 
 
Juicy peaches, pears, apricots. Succulent beans, tomatoes cucumbers. All delicious when picked. But only available at certain times of the year and in certain parts of the country. (See the Canning Fruit Harvest Calendar below.) That’s where the wonder of canning comes in. Once fresh fruit and vegetables have been preserved in a can, their delicious taste and healthy goodness can be enjoyed all year round. They can be transported without spoiling and as they are ready-prepared, are quick and easy to serve.

 

 


Canned fruit is produced in large, hygienic, canning factories. The fresh fruit is washed, peeled halved and the pips are removed. The correct quantity is placed into the can. Sugar syrup or fruit juice is added and the can is sealed making it air-tight. The cans are then placed in powerful pressure cookers.

The heat sterilizes the fruit. It destroys the enzymes and micro-organisms which would otherwise spoil the fruit. Because the cans are air-tight, the food remains stable. That is why canned foods need no preservatives, yet keep for a very long time if unopened.

 

 


Only the finest quality fruit goes into cans. In fact, fruit is grown especially for canning, picked at its peak, then sorted, prepared and sealed into cans within hours of harvesting.

To maintain strict standards, the canners carry out their own quality inspection and in addition there is third party inspection by the PPECB on the behalf of the Department of Agriculture.

South African canned fruit is sold in four grades:

FANCY (OR EXTRA CHOICE) AND CHOICE
Regular shaped fruit with unblemished appearance, ideal for decoration.

STANDARD AND IRREGULAR CUT
This is just as good and nutritious, but the fruit may be less regular in shape and size.

 



Copyright © 2008 South African Fruit & Vegetable canners' Association. All rights reserved.