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Alan S[_2_]

"The Joneses" > wrote in message
...
> Here's our conversation & some followup. Hope it helps.
> Edrena
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Fw: Query on pH test strips
> Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:10:39 -0400
> From: Technical Support NJ >
> To:
>
> Please see below for answers to your questions. I hope you find them
> useful.
> Should you have any further queries, please feel free to contact me
> either via e-mail or on 1-800-942-8626 xt 8323.
> Regards, May Taraneh Burwell-Teran
> Senior Technical Support Representative
>
> I preserve various things - pickles, juice, jam, etc. I belong to a
> very civilized newsgroup (rec.food.preserving) that has some questions
> on how to know how acid an untested recipe is. Food rated at pH <= 4.6
> can be preserved by boiling water bath canning, anything above that
> needs pressure canning. We like to experiment, but not with our
> health.
> I use the CF test strips 2613991 ... They have served very well for
> me - but I have a few questions:
> 1. Are the test reagents food safe? Your site says: "All the dyes are
> chemically bonded to the paper and cannot be leached into solution;
> problems associated with contamination of the sample and resultant
> anomalous readings are avoided."
> "Although chemicals cannot be leached into the solution we do not
> recommend use of this item directly with the finished product (i.e.
> it is better to remove a small sample of the item and test that
> instead of dipping the paper into the whole jar of finished product)."
>
> 2. Is there a problem with testing at various temperatures from cold
> to over boiling?
> "The paper itself will hold up with cold or hot samples. However,
> if
> temperature affects the pH of the item, you will have results of the
> product's pH at time of testing."
>
> 3. My container shows the pH ranges in whole numbers only - which
> colors are what fractions? Your site says: "The resulting combination
> of colour differences gives an extremely clear and accurate visual pH
> value."
> This strip reads the pH in whole unit increments and not fractions.
> We do, however have other products which read pH in 0.2 or 0.5
> graduation units from pH 3.8 - 5.5 and the charts for these are on
> the packaging of the product itself. [This is item #2627-990]
>
> 4. Do you have a food rated product, both for brewers and canners in
> the ranges we look for?
> "Unfortunately, none of our pH indicator strips are certified for
> direct use with food (i.e. with the finished, packaged product as
> opposed to a small sample of the finished product)."
> [I asked them to consider us when developing new products.E]
>
> 5. Some of our correspondents are world-wide. Is your product
> available in most countries? Some of our correspondents are from
> Canada, Central America, Hong Kong, Thailand, England/Scotland/
> Ireland, Germany, and Israel.
> "Following is the link with our complete list of worldwide
> distributors which include the aforementioned countries.
> http://www.whatman.com/support/?pageID=3.8"

One thing I was wondering is if the pH of the juice is going to be the same
as the pH of the center of the beet? I called Whatman to find out if they
had a supplier in Austin and they sent me to Fisherscientific to order it
off the web. the URL is http://tinyurl.com/gq94g