What changed in the USDA Complete Guide between 2009 and 2015?

Here are the changes we noted in the USDA Complete Guide between 2009 and 2015.

This comparison is just for curiosity purposes only, to see if we could spot any major critical changes to draw to people’s attentions.

We used PDF comparison software (diffpdf.) Note that the software may have missed some changes, or our eyes may have missed seeing some changes that it tried to flag for us. That is just one more reason to ensure that you use the 2015 version of the Complete Guide now rather than the 2009 version. The 2015 version supersedes the 2009 version.

That being said, all the changes that we did notice seemed minor, and mostly to do with recipe prep. We knew that the USDA was preferring hot pack over raw pack more and more for meats; in this 2015 edition they really emphasize their preference. We noticed only one ingredient quantity change (in Golden Pepper Jelly).

You may click all images below to enlarge them for easier reading. (Note that the comparison software highlighted some false positives; just ignore them.) The 2009 versions are on the left; the 2015 versions are on the right.

To be clear: we don’t certify this is a complete list of changes, so file away your 2009 guide and work from the new 2015 one.

Note that the 2015 Complete Guide advice on steam canning doesn’t coincide with the advice now approving steam canning on the NCHFP site. It could be that incorporating steam canning guidance, which would require drastic changes throughout the Guide, would be beyond the resources of the USDA’s Home Canning department at the present time. The department currently gets only minimal, subsistence funding.