Apr 7, 2007

New York Producers Can’t Sell Customers Raw Cider Anymore

Once again, New York has outlawed untreated cider – and this time it might be for good.

A law went into effect last month that requires all cider sold in the state be treated to achieve a five-log, or 99.999 percent reduction of pathogens. Such a reduction can be achieved by pasteurization or ultraviolet treatment.

Anyone who manufactures, processes or sells cider is subject to the law. Non-compliance could lead to a penalty of $1,000 per infraction, according to the New York Apple Association.

The same law was enacted early last year, but last June the state Legislature passed a bill delaying enforcement for six months. The delay, which expired last month, was meant to give raw cider producers time to unload excess inventory and buy treatment equipment. The delay also was meant to give supporters and opponents of the mandatory treatment law time to sit down and hash out their differences. It didn’t work, however. The sides are too far apart.

“There is a philosophical difference between those who oppose (the treatment law) and those who feel it is necessary,” said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association.

Supporters of the law, led by the apple association, consider it a necessary tool to protect public health and the image of the state’s apple industry. Opponents, including New York Farm Bureau, believe the law limits consumer choice and will put small cider producers out of business. Under New York’s old rules – which followed federal regulations – cider sold wholesale or to a third party had to be treated, but producers who sold cider directly to consumers could leave it untreated, as long as there was a warning label.

Of the more than 200 cider producers in the state, less than 50 sell untreated cider, according to the association.

Jim Perry and other small cider makers think a warning label is enough. The owner of Perry’s Orchard in Eagle Bridge, N.Y., is one of the leading opponents of mandatory treatment. His customers love his raw cider, and the new law will probably force him out of the cider business because he can’t afford treatment equipment.

“There’s nothing wrong with producing raw cider if you do it properly,” Perry said.

Perry and his allies managed to reverse New York Farm Bureau’s position on the subject. The bureau now supports an exemption to the treatment law, one that would allow small producers to sell untreated cider directly to their customers, said Julie Suarez, the bureau’s deputy director for public policy.

Opponents of mandatory treatment still hope to convince the apple association and its supporters that a small-producer exemption won’t be dangerous. Even if there was an incident, it would be localized somewhere in New York and wouldn’t affect the rest of the country like the recent spinach outbreak, Perry said.

“You can’t protect everybody from everything,” he said.

The apple association is not likely to change its position. In October 2004, raw cider from a single producer sickened 300 people in northern New York, the incident that spurred the mandatory treatment law. Thanks to the media scrutiny gained from the spinach and other produce outbreaks last year, any future cider incident – regardless of its size – could shut down the industry, Allen said.