I'm going to step in here if I may?
Not to distract from anything Barb said but I have yet to use a "recipe" to make salsa.
Mostly because I dont like cooked salsa.
Here is my unapproved USDA method of doing it but please bear with me.
Not only do I not use vinegar and use bottled lemon or lime just I also put in some citric acid.
Now here is the kicker all if this stuff goes in a refrigerator to stop what is called fermentation.
To get a jar to seal you have to heat op the salsa on a kettle and put it in jars.
This industry just does this and let the jars seal.
The have equipment to do this and the jars and lids are steamed to kill bacteria ans spores that otherwise are hard to kill in the home.
This is why we are asked to then put our jars in a hot water bath to make sure they are sealed.
You wont find fresh salsa in a jar or any other container that isn't refrigerated.
There is another method I have used called fermentation once it get to the level I want I then put this stuff in the refrigerator.
On final note.
I feel there should be more testing but there isn't.
And there is a fool born every minute of the day.
These goof balls are the reason why the Safe food folks have things set up the way they do.
They simply cannot take responsibility for these so called fools and or variances in processing conditions in the average home.
My advice make the fresh salsa go over kill on the acid the way I do and put it in a dedicated refrigerator.
You can also visit the pH of food thread I have posted here to get an idea of the acidity of foods.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=38672
Worth