Historically, from the time of the Roman Empire to the days of American pioneers heading westward across the prairie, silver has been used to preserve food and beverages.

Because of its well-known bactericidal and fungicidal qualities, silver was used to make cups, pitchers and storage containers to help preserve food, water, wine, vinegar and oils that would otherwise spoil easily from bacterial contamination.

What’s more, plates, bowls and eating utensils were frequently also made of silver. Sometimes silver coins were placed in storage containers to preserve food and water on long voyages.

Sadly, today most food processing companies rely on toxic chemicals and irradiation to preserve food when they could be using a safer, healthier and all-natural alternative.

Safe, Effective, Highly Beneficial

As a preservative, colloidal silver is not only extremely safe and highly effective, but it provides a number of powerful health benefits to the human body, including increased immunity and greater resistance to infection and disease.

That’s why colloidal silver remains to this day the perfect added preservative for canning, as well as for lengthening the shelf life of the foods in your refrigerator or on your kitchen counter.

Rules-of-Thumb for Using Colloidal Silver

in Food Canning and Preservation

Food Storage: Colloidal silver is the ideal food preservative to use whenever you are canning, freezing, pickling or making fruit preserves.

To prevent spoilage add 1 tablespoon of 10 ppm colloidal silver per quart when home-canning, especially if you’re using the boiling-water-bath method. Seal the lids as per usual.

Beverages: The general rule for long-term storage of beverages like tomato juice, vegetable juices and water is to add one ounce of 10 ppm colloidal silver per gallon, mix well and seal the lids as per usual.

Spoiled Food Is Wasted Money!

Letting food go to waste is a costly but unfortunate reality of life. However, you can easily use colloidal silver at home to preserve your food for longer periods of time.

For example, you can stretch your dollars by using colloidal silver to keep your fruits and vegetables fresh for significantly longer periods of time. Before refrigerating them, just soak them in a bowl consisting of one ounce of 10 ppm colloidal silver per quart of water. Or, simply use a pump spray bottle to lightly spray your fruits and veggies with 10 ppm colloidal silver before refrigeration.

Also, meat, dairy products and any other foods or beverages can be given a longer life by using colloidal silver to help preserve them. The simplest method is to spray them lightly with colloidal silver before refrigerating.

Here are some additional examples of how you can use colloidal silver to make your food last a few days or more longer, with and without refrigeration:

• Preserve un-refrigerated sun tea from bacteria for up to a week by adding colloidal silver. One colloidal silver user states, "Here in Texas iced tea that is set out will spoil overnight. I pour one to one and a half ounces of colloidal silver into the tea; it lasts over a week with out refrigeration."
  
• Soak boiled eggs in a solution of one ounce of colloidal silver to 1 quart of water for 45 minutes. This allows the silver to soak through the shell and keeps boiled eggs from spoiling without refrigeration for a few days longer than untreated eggs.

• When having an outdoor family gathering or going on a picnic in which food may be unrefrigerated for a prolonged period of time, add about a tablespoon of colloidal silver per quart to any dishes containing mayonnaise, dairy products or to any other food that is prone to Salmonella growth.

• Stir colloidal silver into un-refrigerated condiments like ketchup, mustard and relish before going on a long picnic or other outdoor gathering.

• When making potato salad, pasta salad or deviled eggs, add at least a couple of teaspoons of 10 ppm colloidal silver to the mixture to slow the growth of harmful bacteria. The same can be done for any other dishes that are prone to spoilage when left un-refrigerated for a few hours at picnics, family gatherings or potluck meals.

• Spray colloidal silver on fresh blueberries, strawberries, grapes and other fruits or vegetables that might otherwise mold before you have a chance to eat them.

• Stir a tablespoon of colloidal silver into cottage cheese or milk containers that are nearing their expiration dates, to keep them fresh longer. Says colloidal silver advocate Kathy B. in an online forum, “If I still have lots of milk in the container as it’s approaching its expiration date, I add anywhere from a tablespoon to an ounce of colloidal silver in order to extend its refrigerated shelf life.”

Interesting Experiment

According to another internet source, an experiment was performed in which a small amount of colloidal silver was added to a cup of milk, which was then left on the kitchen countertop at room temperature. The same amount of milk was added to a 'control' cup and placed next to the silver-laced milk. The control milk would spoil and sour after 24 to 36 hours, while the samples with added colloidal silver would last between 3 to 9 days, unspoiled.

In short, colloidal silver can extend the edible life of almost any dish or beverage you prepare, including soups, stews, salads, teas and more.

While colloidal silver won't make your foods and beverages last forever (because its antibacterial qualities slowly degrade over time when it comes into contact with other substances), it can significantly help slow the growth of harmful bacteria and make food and drink last longer in or out of the refrigerator.

Emergency Preparedness

Pint bottles of colloidal silver should be stored as part of every home emergency preparedness kit.

When you're in need of safe, purified water in an emergency, add an ounce of your stored colloidal silver per gallon to unpurified water and shake it well. Leave it sit overnight before drinking.

Common Sense Health Alternative

Colloidal silver is the common sense, healthy and money-saving way to preserve and store food -- for both the long and short-term.

Just remember the basic rule of adding approximately one tablespoon of colloidal silver per quart of solid or liquid that you plan to preserve or store.

As you begin experimenting with the use of colloidal silver for this purpose, you're sure to find many other ways to use colloidal silver to preserve food, prevent waste and save money.