Scientific Process Articles & Resources

Inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts in Fresh Apple Cider by UV Irradiation
American Society for Microbiology & US National Library of Medicine National InstituTes of Health

ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the efficacy of UV irradiation on the inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in fresh apple cider. Cider was inoculated with oocysts and exposed to 14.32 mJ of UV irradiation/cm2. Oocyst viability was assessed with the gamma interferon gene knockout (GKO) mouse and infant BALB/cByJ mouse models. All GKO mice challenged with UV-treated cider demonstrated no morbidity or mortality, and infant BALB/c mice challenged with treated cider were negative for the presence of C. parvum. In contrast, the GKO mice challenged with non-UV-treated inoculated cider died and the parasite was detected in the ileums of all challenged infant mice. This study shows that UV irradiation can be used to inactivate C. parvum in fresh apple cider.

Q&A: A Food-Safety Expert Explains Germany’s E. Coli Outbreak

TIME

The 5 log reduction process is the juice purification standard required by the F.D.A. This refers to the reduction of pathogens which results from the purification method employed. If your juice sample has 10 pathogens per given volume and your purification process eliminates all but one, this would be a 1 log reduction. A two log reduction would be if you eliminated all but one of 100 pathogens. With each log of reduction, your process increases ten fold. Therefore, to achieve a 5 log reduction, you must eliminate all but one pathogen in an original population of 100,000. A 6 log reduction would kill all but one in a million pathogens.  Our CiderSure equipment typically achieves 6-7 log reductions. 

Five Years Under NY’s Cider Pasteurization Law
Food Safety News

In the fall of 2004, more than 300 people were sickened in an outbreak of E. coli in Peru, New York. This cider-related incident led the NY Apple Association to push the state Legislature to pass the country’s first mandatory cider pasteurization law.