How Apple Cider is Made Safely

E. coli is a big concern for local orchards this time of year but cider makers say they are producing a safe product

Story and photos by Bob Bennett

"They have more power than the police," says Bob Rulf, of Rulf’s Orchard in Peru, speaking about the Clinton County Health Department. Rulf’s closed three years ago because four people who consumed cider, and one person who had a cider donut, contracted E. coli. Rulf says the donuts are cooked at 179 degrees and E. coli dies at 157 degrees. Therefore, the fifth person could not have contracted E. coli from his orchard. Whether the other four people did is unknown.

Although the process of making cider is generally safe, contaminated apples can spread the E. coli virus.

Jim Cayea, senior public health sanitarian at the Clinton County Health Department, says the chances of contracting E. coli from cider have gone down since the state started requiring pasteurization.

"One guy had two quarts and complained of diarrhea. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out," Cayea says. But he added, "E. coli will often kill children or the elderly, as well as people with AIDS or cancer." 

Cayea also explained that outbreaks didn’t occur for years and years, and then three years ago 200 cases arose among Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Warren Counties. Cases originating in Clinton County were reported in Albany, Canada and North Carolina, as well. 

According to New York State's Web site, "People infected by E. coli… can develop a range of symptoms. Some infected people may have mild diarrhea or no symptoms at all. Most identified cases develop severe diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Blood is often seen in the stool. Usually little or no fever is present."

The contamination occurs most commonly from exposure to bird or deer feces.

Because of this, Rulf explains, his orchard will not use apples that have fallen on the ground. All of the equipment is thoroughly cleaned after pressing, as well. Nonetheless, E. coli outbreaks have been reported in the area, which has caused area orchards to exercise more caution.

In fact, according to Tom Everett, of Everett’s Orchard in Plattsburgh, his business stopped producing sweet apple cider during the E. coli outbreak three years ago. Now they only make hard cider because the fermentation process kills the E. coli virus. The method for making hard cider is similar to that of sweet cider except for the addition of yeast and the fermentation process that is necessary to produce alcohol.

"If you lick the bottom of your shoe right now, you could contract E. coli."

Everett and Rulf both explained the cider making process during recent interviews.

First, the apples are gathered in huge bins and are then hydraulically lifted and dumped into a washer, where they are mechanically scrubbed, rinsed and cleaned.

Next, they are transported by a conveyor belt into a hopper that shaves them apart until they are turned into what is known in the industry as "mash."

After being ground up in this manner, the mash falls into the bottom of the hopper and is then pumped over to a press. This press is filled with flat trays, which are lined with a pressing cloth – almost like a cheese cloth.

Each tray is filled with mash and eight trays are stacked. The trays are then hydraulically lifted and pressed at 2,200 pounds of pressure. Each tray has its own drainage hole, which the cider flows from and then collects in a tank under the press.

From here, the cider is either pasteurized or treated with ultraviolet light to kill bacteria. After, it is cooled to thirty-three degrees and stored in seventy-eight gallon tanks. It is then ready to be served.

Everett says hard cider is made in the same fashion, but after the pressing, champagne yeast is added to the cider. The cider must ferment, until all of the sugar in it turns to alcohol.

Rulf’s Orchard only produces sweet cider, which, unlike Everett’s sweet cider, is non-alcoholic. The health department has examined every step of his process, and there is no evidence of E. coli contamination, he says.

One particular concern for Rulf is the new UV machine the health department has forced him to install. It cost him $15,000, and he says that it’s not 100 percent effective at eradicating E. coli. But he says it does kill other bacteria, some of which is good bacteria.

"What you have now is a product that is potentially less safe because you’ve taken away the bacteria that could have killed the E. coli on its own," he says.

But Rulf says he doesn’t think people have contracted E. coli from his business anyway.

"They sit people down who have contracted E. coli, and they want to know everywhere they have been in the last seventy-two hours," Rulf says. "These people were at my place, but only four out of five of them had cider. I don’t think they know where it comes from. If you lick the bottom of your shoe right now, you could contract E. coli."

Have you ever had a foodborne illness?