Ph.D. in Food Science, Professor Emerita at University of Georgia, former director of the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP). The leading scientific authority on USDA home canning and food preservation safety.
Helen Marsh, Ph.D. is Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist Emerita at the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. in Food Science from Pennsylvania State University in 1987 and spent over three decades leading the nation's home food preservation research and education. She served as Director of the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), the USDA's designated authority on home canning and food preservation. She co-edited the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539) and So Easy to Preserve (6th edition, 387 pp), the two defining reference works in the field. Her research spans botulism prevention in home-canned foods, pressure canner validation, steam canner safety, vegetable fermentation microbiology (E. coli O157:H7 survival, Listeria in pickles), and home jerky processing safety. She has published in Food Protection Trends, Journal of Food Protection, and Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal. She received the National Excellence in Extension Award (2012, APLU/USDA), the Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Public Service Fellowship, and the D.W. Brooks Award for Faculty Excellence in Extension. Her work directly underpins USDA food preservation guidelines used by millions of home canners. This record is for private NarrativeOS source layer use and should not be used as a public article byline by default.
These links route to their original homes across the network. Atlas serves as the public author hub, while full article ownership and canonical authority remain with the source site.
Her research on vegetable fermentation and salt concentration safety directly validates the science behind brine ratio calculations.
Open original article →The blanching time tables she helped develop at NCHFP are directly referenced in this tool's methodology.
Open original article →Her USDA food safety expertise on temperature danger zones and pathogen control informs the safe defrost guidelines.
Open original article →Her pressure canning research and USDA processing time tables are the scientific basis for safe vegetable preservation guidance.
Open original article →
