I think there is some serious misunderstanding about exactly what some of these things you are trying to get rid of truly are, their basic nature.

"Processed canning salt"? The whole advantage to canning salt is that it has no additives or processing as table salt and even some sea salt have since sea salt has to be 'extracted'. Canning salt is nothing but pure salt - mined, sifted, pulverized, and cleaned. Sure you can go with no salt if you wish except in fermenting foods. But you won't find anything more 'pure'.

Before pickle crisp (plain mineral calcium chloride) was available people used pickling lime and alum and both are potentially hazardous chemicals.

Homemade pectin can be made from apple peels and most of it today is made from citrus peels. Can't get more natural than that. Can you make jams and jellies without pectin? Not really because the fruits contain their own pectin, it can't be avoided. So some pectin will be in it no matter whether you add more or not.

Bottled lemon juice can always be used in lieu of citric acid but fresh lemon juice will not always be acidic enough for safety. And pure citric acid is far more natural than bottled lemon juice because it has stabilizers added.

The whole point to home canning food is that it is not "processed/chemicalized/extracted" food. So you are already accomplishing your goal. It is as pure, as close as it is possible to get to what people ate 200 years ago unless you want to hunt it down yourself and ear it raw. ;-)

Dave

Dave, I agree with you; hence my comment on "logic or illogic aside." In this case I am simply trying to provide something for someone I care about, who is not open to discussion on the topic. I'm willing to jump through some less than logical hoops for loved ones.

So they don't understand the difference between ingredients and "additives" and don't want to, correct? Then that leaves only fresh foods to eat and they would have to be fresh, organic foods only. Even fermenting, the most basic form of food preservation, requires the use of salt. Do they ear store-bought foods?

I can understand your desire to please them but it really is impossible to meet those criteria. So how do they know what is in something you make? In other words if you made a jar of pickles for them how would they know if they contained pickle crisp or not, if the jam contained any pectin other than what is already in the fruit?

Pickled vegetables can be made using fermentation with only the vegetable, water, and salt but you'll have to use salt. Or they can be made using pickling lime soak for 12-24 hours to make them crisp but you'll have to do several washes and rinses to get all of it off of them and use gloves, avoid skin contact, and don't breathe it while using it. Jams can be made with nothing but fruit, water, and raw, unrefined sugar but the fruit will have to have lots of its own pectin and be under-ripe to set.

Dave

One person I know wanted me to make jam from organic peaches without sugar, pectin, or lemon juice. I told her that it wouldn't be jam - it would be a jar of canned mashed peaches.

I hope your family member will consider fermenting vegetables which will open up a whole new probiotic field of food. I like fermented cubed beets, peppers, etc. The food does not taste salty. You can start out with small batch fermenting using a gadget like the Perfect Pickler which attaches to any wide mouth canning jar.

I'd like to suggest you and your family member read "Eating on the Wild Side" which is about plant history and science and which vegetables and fruits are the most nutritious. ( It's not about foraging.) It's a fascinating read and I think it's also important for you both to read because maybe the varieties of vegetables you are choosing aren't the best choice.