Anyone remember when Odwalla sold unpasteurized juice back in the nineties? I do, and I also remember when Odwalla started pasteurizing all their juices due to an E. coli infection contamination of their apple juice that caused the death of a child and serious illness in others.
From a Food Safety News article:
When the outbreak was over, one child was dead from complications arising from her E. coli O157:H7 infection, and more than 65 individuals were confirmed infected with the bacteria in the western U.S. and British Columbia. Of these reported cases, more than a dozen developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life-threatening condition that causes the body’s major organs – particularly the kidneys – to fail.
It’s with this memory that I asked around at Whole Foods in Lafayette about the safety of their new fresh, unpasteurized juices they seem to be heavily promoting lately. Apparently the Odwalla scare of the nineties was before their time as one of the responses I got was in effect, “of course it’s safe, why wouldn’t it be?” Another Whole Foods employee looked at me like I was joking. So I smiled back and thanked her for letting me know. However I noticed this warning on the back of an apple juice container:
This product has not been pasteurized and, therefore, may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.
Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I see two potential issues with this notice. One, they forgot to add “and death” after the ’cause serious illness’ part, and secondly, they didn’t mention that even healthy adults could potentially become seriously ill.
Will you give your children Whole Foods tasty, fresh squeezed, unpasteurized juices? Or is it better to be safe than sorry?
