Uncle John's resumes selling cider
A consumer advisory was issued Tuesday for Uncle John's Old Fashioned Apple Cider, produced by Uncle John's Cider Mill in St. Johns.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development found certain batches of cider have the potential to be contaminated with Shiga-toxin, which produces E. Coli bacteria. Those who have purchased cider from Uncle John's are urged not to drink it, and dispose of it immediately.
The advisory said about 1,200 gallons of cider produced on Oct. 17 could be affected. The cider was sold at the cider mill from the retail cooler, packaged in various-sized plastic jugs will a "sell by" date of Oct. 30, 2015. It was also served directly to customers by cup as cold cider, frozen slushies and hot cider from Oct. 18-21.
Wednesday, on the cider mill's Facebook page, owners announced its most recent batches have tested negative for E. Coli. The mill has resumed selling cider.
The positive test results were the first in more than 40 years of service, said Uncle John's Cider Mill president Mike Beck. To make sure it's not a problem again, sample testing of batches will no longer be random, but consistent instead.
"We are doing testing of all batches of cider from here," he said. "Other than that, you can see our pressing area, which we keep very clean. We have one of the cleanest systems in America, quite frankly. We are going to do consistent checks. We will change the frequency with every batch of cider, though in 25 years of random sampling, we've never had this before."
The findings came out of a routine sample collected by the Department of Agriculture food inspector. No illnesses have been reported so far, and the cider mill has voluntarily stopped selling cider while waiting for more test results.
E. Coli symptoms vary between individuals, but often include stomach cramps and vomiting. Around 5 percent of those diagnosed with Shiga-toxin producing E. Coli develop potentially life-threatening complications.
