"The jam near the top is a darker color than the rest. "... DEFINITELY toss!! might not hurt you at all but just the idea that it doesn't LOOK like it should would decide things for me!!

If you have to ask the question, you are already worried about it. I would toss it.

Old questionable condiments are not worth the risk. Toss and move forward.

Sometimes the color goes off when the storage area is too warm. It can affect the flavor, especially if there's an acid component in the jam. I've never heard of jam going bad for you to eat but I'm no expert on it and I'd trust Linda. Excepting a low sugar recipe, which really should be eaten quickly anyway.

If the jam is still sealed, it's still safe to eat. However, the quality may not be as good as it was when it was fresh. I just opened a jar of Habanero Gold jam that I made in 2014, that's 3 years old, and it was fine, although the top 1/8 of an inch or so had darkened a little. Jam can spoil, but it will mold or become rancid and it's usually pretty easy to tell if it's bad. Fruit is generally acidic and jam contains copious amounts of sugar, which also acts slightly as a preservative. I wouldn't hesitate to eat it. I have found that lower sugar fruit spreads lose quality more quickly than the full sugar preparations.

The pepper/onion relish is a different thing altogether. Both peppers and onions are low acid vegetables. If it's two years old and still sealed, and I knew the recipe and process followed, I'd still be comfortable consuming that. However, without knowing the level of acidification, the ph of the product, the recipe and procedure used and the fact that it isn't heated before using to help avoid contamination, well, I'm not as comfortable with that.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation gives a 2 year guideline for storage of home canned food but it's not a safety issue, it's a quality issue. Who wants to eat it if it doesn't taste good?

Annie

I'm going to have to find a place to store this stuff where I can see it from now on. The only reason why I found it is because I had to get out the step ladder to try to find something else.