Friday, October 31, 2014

Cider recalled in Waterloo


Rolling Acres Cider Mill near Waterloo is recalling its unpasteurized apple cider because it might be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7.

Three people have been sickened enough to see doctors for treatment.

Some of the cider was sold Oct. 11 at the St. Jacobs farmers market on the northern outskirts of Waterloo and some was sold Oct. 10 and 11 at the cider mill.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which is supervising the recall, does not say how many people fell ill.

This situation begs for investigation.

First, the source of E. coli 0157:H7 is usually cow manure. How does that get on apples up in trees?

I can guess that the apples fell into cow manure and was picked up and used to make apple cider.

Yuck! And dangerous!

But why was the cider not pasteurized? Does Rolling Acres have so little regard for the health of its customers?

Why do I come across food-poisoning by unpasteurized apple cider every autumn? Do cider makers learn nothing from experience?

But, then again, some people insist on drinking unpasteurized milk. 

E. coli 0157:H7 is the same bacteria that contaminated Walkerton’s drinking water, killing seven and sickening 2,300.

That led to an inquiry and a host of measures to improve drinking-water safety. Why is so little done about unpasteurized milk and cider?

Maybe it's simply a matter of numbers arising from a single incident.
If you get sick in smaller numbers over many incidents, I guess it doesn't count so much.