October 28, 1997

SMALL CIDER MILLS FEAR PUSH FOR MANDATORY PASTEURIZATION
by Tom Salemi

Re- Posted from the The Boston Business Journal via the Food Safety net research program. Information on subscribing to FSNet listserv can be found at the end of
this article.

A story about Cider Hill Farms, an Amesbury, Mass. orchard that
has long reigned as the state's champion cider maker, winning an
annual state-sponsored apple cider contest three of the past four
years. But the orchard's bid to defend its title has been snuffed
out, the story says, by public health officials who worry about
E. coli O157:H7 and are considering new regulations for mandatory
pastuerization that could decimate smaller players in the state's
$15 million apple cider industry. If adopted by the state, the
proposed federal requirement would force small cider farms to
spend between $30,000 and $70,000 on pasteurization equipment to
keep what is typically a small, seasonal and important part of
their business.

The story recounts the Odwalla outbreak and says that in 1991, 23
people from 13 families reported getting sick from E. coli
O157:H7 after drinking cider. Six people were hospitalized,
including four children. Arthur Whitmore, spokesman for the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration's nutritional department was quoted
as saying, "A lot of people are unaware [of the danger]. They
think it's a natural product. Kids love it. But if you really
want to reduce your risk, it may not be wise to drink
unpasteurized apple juice."

Last year, 14 cider-related illnesses cases were reported in
Connecticut. In August, the FDA asked state health departments to
issue cider makers a "voluntary order" to slap up signs and
stickers that warn customers of cider's potential risk to
children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

Now the U.S. federal government is proposing mandatory
pasteurization for all juice makers that ship over state lines.

The story says the order wouldn't apply to the state's 60 cider
sellers but the state Department of Public Health, which followed
the FDA's lead on the labeling request, is expected to mimic the
move in time for the next pressing season.

John Lee, manager of the Allandale Farm in Jamaica Plain, was
quoted as saying, "If I don't put the pasteurizer in, they want
me to put a label saying it's potentially poisonous to children,
senior citizens or adults with immune deficiency syndrome. That's
like saying hurt me or kick me." Lee added that rather than
risking a lawsuit by selling the cider, he stopped his cider
making for the entire year.

The story also says that many farmers and even the state's
commissioner of agriculture insist health officials are
overreacting to the potential presence of the E.coli in
unpasteurized apple cider, a drink one farm booster claimed
"humans have been drinking since they've been humans."
Harvard-based Carlson Orchards Inc., one of the state's largest
cider makers, was cited as spending $75,000 on machines to
pasteurize its annual 500,000 gallons output, 50 times the
production of the majority of Massachusetts orchards.

Frank Carlson, one of Carlson's owners and chairman of the
Massachusetts Cider Guild, added that the orchard sells cider
wholesale to supermarkets, and two of the biggest chains decided
in August to sell only pasteurized cider, giving the farm little
choice.

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