by Linda McCandless
Geneva, NY - Pressing changes are coming to the New York State apple cider industry. Over 130 cider makers from seven states and Canada attended a workshop on cider processing and safety at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva on March 7. Researchers and state officials outlined the details behind recent cider scares and iterated the requirements and recommendations for safer cider production.
In the coming year, cider inspections by the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) will be more stringent, as sources of contamination and sanitary practices 
will be more closely monitored. NYSDAM recommends product coding to facilitate positive identification in the case of a recall. Pasteurization is recommended though not required, and will be more widely used, as producers take every step to maintain consumer confidence in cider.
The workshop was organized by the New York State Apple Association and Cornell University in the wake of the Odwalla case on the West Coast last fall, where one child died and others became ill after drinking unpasteurized apple juice.
The Experiment Station has been at the forefront of research to control the occurrence of Escherichia coli O 157.H7, the bacteria that has been implicated in several outbreaks of food poisoning, including the Odwalla case. Fresh fruit and vegetables can become contaminated with E. coli when they fall to the ground where farm animals, people, or wildlife defecate. Fecal matter from mammals can contain the bacteria, which is then ingested by humans.
Mike Durando, President of the New York Apple Association, welcomed the standing room only crowd, which was estimated to include 80 percent of all New York State cider producers. He emphasized that microbiological safety issues affect the whole produce industry, not just freshly made juice like cider.
Jack Guzewich, Chief of Food Protection in the NYS Department of Health, described several food borne pathogens, including E.coli and a parasite called cryptosporidium, noting that cider has generally been considered a "safe" agricultural commodity.
One producer noted his customers had a greater chance of getting hit by lighting at his farm stand than falling ill from drinking his cider, but Mark McLellan, professor of food science at the Experiment Station, who is researching alternative methods of processing cider to provide a safe, quality product, said that "perception is reality" when it comes to the consumer and the risk factor, including the death of a young child is "too great to ignore."
"The industry needs to take prudent measures to protect itself from liability and to protect consumers from possible ill health, " he said, noting that the marketplace will drive the decision about safe food. "People are demanding safe food and will buy only the foods that they perceive are safe."
In addition to more prudent harvest and orchard management practices to reduce the chance of E. coli contamination, McLellan and others proposed that producers develop a detailed risk management plan and implementation of a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan.
Judy Anderson, from the NYS Food Venture Center at Cornell, outlined the steps involved in the adoption of a HACCP plan for individual cider operations. HACCP prevents contamination and is already mandated by federal law in the meat, poultry, and seafood industries. HACCP is tailored to each operation and requires a thorough analysis of the entire food production operation from "farm to fork," so that possible hazards are identified, monitored, and removed.
At the workshop, Dr. Barbara Rasco from the University of Washington, addressed liability issues. In addition to product coding labeling, she encouraged producers to label their cider as 
unpasteurized or pasteurized and to include a "friendly" warning statement about the risk factors involved in drinking unpasteurized cider for the very old, very young, and immunosuppressed.
Heat pasteurization will kill microorganisms in liquid and could be the most reliable form of risk management for cider producers, according to Don Splittstoesser, Cornell microbiologist. He stressed that pasteurization can be accomplished without negatively impacting cider quality. In the past, cider makers have balked at pasteurization, saying it distorts the fresh taste. Pasteurization involves heating cider to 160 degrees F. for 6 seconds and then quickly cooling the product to maintain its fresh taste.
During the afternoon, safe cider making was demonstrated at the Food Science & Technology Pilot Plant under the direction of Professor McLellan and Mr. Robert Kime, Pilot Plant Manager. Participants at the workshop were able to see some of the new products available for commercial use, including small-scale pasteurizers and heat-exchangers, accordion presses, and continuous belt presses. They were also able to taste-test the product resulting from various technologies.
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