March 13, 1997

Cider Safety Requirements & Recommendations

by Linda McCandless

Geneva, NY - These are the requirements and recommendations for safe cider manufacturers that were outlined by Joe Ferrara, Director of Food Safety and Inspection, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station workshop on "Apple Cider Processing and Safety," on March 7, 1997.

Requirements

• Use only wholesome apples. Wormy, decayed or rotten fruit must be discarded. It is illegal to use rotten or wormy fruit in cider. (If you wouldn't eat the fruit, don't process it.)
• All processing apples must be subjected to effective inspection, washing, brushing and rinsing.
• All non-municipal water supplies must be analyzed for water potability by a NYS Health Department certified lab immediately prior to the start-up of cider processing operations each year.
• All food contact equipment must be washed, rinsed, and sanitized prior to the beginning of processing season and following each day's production.
• The potability of flume water must be maintained.
• Cider produced and offered for sale in New York State must originate in a cider mill licensed to operate under Article 20-C of Agriculture and Markets Law, "Licensing of Food Processing Establishments."

Recommendations

• Label your cider as pasteurized or unpasteurized.
• Adopt the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) approach for your cider operation.
• Stop using dropped apples for cider making (unless you pasteurize).
• Dry dump fruit to avoid waterborne contamination.
• Pressure wash the bottom of apple bins to remove orchard debris.
• Sanitize flume and rinsewater.
• Control animal droppings in the orchard.
• Enforce good personal hygiene for pickers and other employees.
• Pasteurize at 160 degrees F. for 6 seconds.
• Add 1% sodium benzoate.
• Code your product to facilitate a potential recall.

Contact: Linda McCandless, Communications Services

Telephone: (315) 787-2417

e-mail: llm3@cornell.edu

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