Warnings Required on Untreated Apple Juices

The Food and Drug Administration said manufacturers of unpasteurized apple juice or apple cider now must warn consumers that such beverages could contain illness-causing microbes. All other unprocessed packaged fruit and vegetable juices must carry a warning by Nov. 5, the FDA said. To make it easier for companies to comply with the mandate, the FDA is allowing manufacturers to display warning signs where juices are sold, though they must include the warning on the package within one year. In July, Half Moon Bay-based Odwalla Inc. pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from an E. coli bacteria outbreak traced to the company’s unpasteurized apple juice and was ordered to pay a $1.5-million fine to the U.S. government. Odwalla began pasteurizing its juice after a 16-month-old Colorado girl died and 60 other people became ill from drinking its fresh-squeezed apple juice in October 1996. The FDA said untreated juices cause 16,000 to 48,000 illnesses from food each year.

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