Cider Sales Unfazed By Poisonings Fruit Stand Operator, Bottler Report Minimal Impact Locally

Scares about tainted fruit juice have had little effect on Green Bluff cider sales, but one Spokane commercial bottler says it is replacing old labels to ensure that customers know it produces only pasteurized drinks.

Ed Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Olympic Foods Inc. on the West Plains, said the company soon will begin using new labels marked “pasteurized” to calm consumer fears about the threat of E. coli bacteria poisoning.

Health authorities have traced more than 50 incidents, including one death, across several states to E. coli-tainted, unpasteurized apple juice. The drink was bottled by California-based Odwalla Inc. One theory is that the bacteria may have been transmitted from apples picked off manure-covered ground.

“Any incident like this hurts the (bottled juice) category,” said Johnson, who runs the Darigold Inc.-controlled bottler of orange and apple juices and fruit drinks. “But I think it’s going to have a greater effect on the roadside stand, farmers market and hobbyists who used to make fresh cider to supplement their income.”

However, Roberta McGlade, co-owner of McGlade’s Treemendous Fruit stand on Newport Highway, said only one customer has asked how Green Bluff juice is made. Very little is pasteurized, a heating process that kills unwanted bacteria.

“Since we’ve never had an incident, people are not that concerned,” McGlade said, adding that Green Bluff cider makers don’t use apples blown to the ground.

McGlade said health inspectors recently conducted E. coli tests on Green Bluff juice, but she hadn’t heard back about results. Inspectors could not be reached for comment on the tests.

, DataTimes