Some of New York state’s apple cider producers still don’t have equipment to treat their product to prevent E. coli contamination.
The state Legislature a few months ago granted an extension of a deadline requiring cider be pasteurized or treated with ultraviolet light.
Initially, all cider sold in the state was to be treated started last January. Now, the mandatory requirement won’t take effect until next January first. Peter Gregg, a spokesman for the New York Apple Association, says only a handful of state cider producers aren’t treating their product. The equipment needed to properly treat cider can cost 15-thousand dollars or more — an expensive proposition for some smaller cider makers.
More than 200 people became ill in 2004 after they drank unpasteurized cider from a northern New York producer.