WASHINGTON — Fall is only days away, but apple picking and cider season are already underway. The Food and Drug Administration has a warning about keeping you and your family safe when it comes to fresh juice and cider.
According to the FDA, serious outbreaks of foodborne illness are traced back to drinking fruit juices, vegetable juices and ciders that have not been pasteurized or otherwise treated to kill the bad bacteria.
While healthy people can usually fight off the effects of the foodborne illness, the bacteria can cause serious sickness or even death in children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, the FDA says.
While most of the juice in the U.S. has been pasteurized, the FDA urges consumers to carefully read the label on juice and cider products to see if they’ve been pasteurized.
According to the FDA, some packaged juices made on-site in grocery stores, health food stores, farmers’ markets, cider mills and juice bars may have not been pasteurized. Those products are required to carry a warning label.
The FDA does not require warning labels for fresh-squeezed cider and juice that is sold by-the-glass in places such as apple orchards, roadside stands, farmers’ markets or juice bars.
The FDA urges consumers to ask if a juice has been pasteurized if there is any uncertainty.
