Julia Altshuler wrote:

> Thanks for the sites. It will be a while before my boss gets around to
> making herb vinegars. There's a lot on his plate right now. I'll wait
> and do more serious research into the legality of making and selling
> them later.

You can make infused vinegars per the guidelines I posted earlier
today and any you create with the same sorts of premises. Vinegar
isn't going to make any regulatory body anxious until you dilute it to
the point where the pH gets above 4.6.

You can't make vinegar from an alcohol basis without red tape and
funny permits.

> In the mean time, I noticed a vinegar, oil and garlic
> bottled salad dressing at the supermarket today. I don't know what they
> did to make the dressing safe.

Likely, they started with all-dehydrated solids or naturally acidic
ones, acidified them to well-below 4.6 pH in the vinegar and then
added oil and the rest of the ingredients. But you'll very likely find
that there are other things in it to deal with bacteriological
questions and emulsification issues, etc.

This is some pretty complex chemistry and microbiology you're getting
into here.

Pastorio

Julia Altshuler wrote:

> Thanks for the sites. It will be a while before my boss gets around to
> making herb vinegars. There's a lot on his plate right now. I'll wait
> and do more serious research into the legality of making and selling
> them later.

You can make infused vinegars per the guidelines I posted earlier
today and any you create with the same sorts of premises. Vinegar
isn't going to make any regulatory body anxious until you dilute it to
the point where the pH gets above 4.6.

You can't make vinegar from an alcohol basis without red tape and
funny permits.

> In the mean time, I noticed a vinegar, oil and garlic
> bottled salad dressing at the supermarket today. I don't know what they
> did to make the dressing safe.

Likely, they started with all-dehydrated solids or naturally acidic
ones, acidified them to well-below 4.6 pH in the vinegar and then
added oil and the rest of the ingredients. But you'll very likely find
that there are other things in it to deal with bacteriological
questions and emulsification issues, etc.

This is some pretty complex chemistry and microbiology you're getting
into here.

Pastorio