Wednesday, October 13, 1999
Cider makers out on limb
New federal rules may require costly pasteurization equipment
BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
MORROW — New regulations that would require pasteurization of apple cider would squeeze the profits of some some local apple growers, and could put some out of business.
The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing standards for producing cider and could mandate pasteurization beginning in 2000. The standards likely require a reduction of bacteria in the cider, said Mike Pullins, executive director of the Ohio Fruit Growers Society.
The new rules could be released early next year, and it is not known whether any producers will be exempt. Any new federal regulations would be enforced by the state, Mr. Pullins said.
Pasteurization involves heating the cider to a prescribed temperature for a certain time, to destroy harmful bacteria. Cider pro ducers that do not already pasteurize must label the cider as unpasteurized, along with a warning that it could be harmful to some people.
“The industry has been aware of these issues for the last seven to eight years,” Mr. Pullins said. His group has been working with growers to make safety upgrades short of pasteurization.
If pasteurization is required, some older, small apple orchards and farms might have to shut down because they couldn't afford the $15,000-plus in new equipment they would need, growers say.
“My thoughts are, we're not going to open up next year,” said Loron Baker, whose family has been tending Maplewood Orchard in Morrow for most of this century. “It's going to run some of them completely out of business. You have to have some way to get revenue out of the small apples that you raise.”
Paul Gilbert of Middletown was among a steady stream of customers who left Maplewood's country store with a jug of cider on Tuesday. He has been drinking it for years and doesn't want to see any changes.
“That's the way it's been made ever since I was a kid,” he said. “There's nothing wrong with it. I have no fear of it.”
Maplewood makes only about 3,000 gallons of cider a year, and Mr. Baker doesn't think a $15,000-$20,000 investment would be worthwhile. The orchard already takes safeguards in making cider by washing all its apples and never using fruit that has fallen into fields.
“For $20,000 we'll think a long while,” said Ron Irons of Irons Fruit Farm in Lebanon. “If we have to, we have to. We'd prefer not to because most of our customers don't want it pasteurized.”
Irons makes about 5,000 gallons of cider a year.
Bill Irons, who oversees the farm's cider production, said he fears pasteurization would change the taste of his fresh product, putting it on par with what buyers could find in any grocery store and taking away his edge.
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