Sorry to hear about this problem and I know it is quite upsetting for you. None of us wants to feel responsible for contributing to someone else's illness. But do keep in mind that other sources are equally possible, especially with children, so without testing your juice you can't know for sure that it was the cause.

That said, while commercial pasteurization does kill it there are so many variables associated with home pasteurization that it isn't guaranteed to be as effective.

Proper BWB processing (or pressure canning when indicated) can assure safety. Homemade apple juice that is home pasteurized is probably safe, but when processed in a BWB at the higher temps is assured safe. So yes, IMO all your canned goods should be safe.

However, freezing in the average home freezer does not kill, it only suspends pathogenic activity. Those pathogens are then killed by the cooking process once the food is thawed and prepared for eating.

The juice you froze, for assured safety, needs to be heated to boil prior to consumption or at least pasteurized. Doing it before freezing works best. For the rest, cooking in some form would be best.

But this is all based on the assumption that your apples were indeed contaminated. So if it were me I'd take the time to find out if that really is the case or not. Then you'll know for sure how to treat the apples in all their forms.

Hope this helps.

Dave

It sounds as if your apples were quite thoroughly cleaned. If your grandson was the only one who got ill while several others also drank the juice, I would look for another cause.

I do agree with Dave that it would be helpful to know precisely whether it was crypto and whether the juice was actually the source.

As Dave said, freezing will not assure total destruction of the crypto spores. Some tests have shown a % of spores are destroyed by freezing but not 100% so it's no failsafe.

Carol

Grandson was tested so we know he has crypto, his dad was sick too but did not get tested. Several of us tried the juice freshly pressed and are fine, but they are the two that drank a lot of it.....and got sick. The remainder of that batch was canned in half gallon jugs, so it should be safe(?) and is probably too late to test it now...assuming the process killed the parasites. I can can the rest of the apples and the frozen juice, but guess the dehydrated apples should be tossed :( Feeling like wicked queen that gave Snow White the poison apple lol

Make dried apple pie or just rehydrate them in fresh water or juice and can them,

Dave

Foods should not be washed with bleach or soap. It goes into the cells of the foods. Running water and scrubbing with a brush is much safer and shown to be more effective.

I am so sorry about your grandkid.

POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE solution is other fruits and vegetable wash. Vinegar solution is another .

Well that is the first I've ever heard of not washing food with soap....the bleach I get. That's why we were very careful to use only 1/4 cup per gallon. Live and learn I guess! Soooo how much vinegar per gallon water do you reccomend?

3 parts water to 1 part vinegar is the most common ratio that I found recommended when I was searching for a vinegar fruit/veggie wash earlier this year.

Rodney

Some public health documents do continue to recommend dilute solutions of soap or bleach for sanitizing of fruits and vegetables, so there does appear to be disagreement on that issue.

I was surprised in reading a WHO study (World Health Organization) that there actually has been minimal research on the efficacy of various methods for cleaning foods and the jury is still out in many cases.

Below is a summary of WHO recommendations. I bold-faced some portions that seemed most relevant to this thread:

"The efficacy of various disinfectants and sanitizing methods for reducing populations of microorganisms on raw fruits and vegetables varies greatly. Differences in surface characteristics of fruits and vegetables, type and physiological state of microbial cells, and environmental stress conditions interact to influence the activity of disinfectants and sanitizers.

Conditions under which chlorine is effective in killing microorganisms on fruits and vegetables have been studied most extensively. Nevertheless, its performance in relation to other chemical and physical treatments under various conditions of application has not been clearly defined.

Although there is a lack of extensive scientific data from which to extract firm conclusions concerning the efficacy of disinfectants for raw fruits and vegetables, some general conclusions can be drawn:

1) Efficacy of disinfectants varies with different fruits and vegetables, characteristics of their surfaces, temperature and type of pathogen.

2) Listeria monocytogenes is generally more resistant to disinfectants than Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella.

3) Little is known about the efficacy of disinfectants in killing parasites and viruses on fruits andvegetables.

4) Washing fruits and vegetables in potable water removes a portion of microbial cells. In some instances, vigorous washing can be as effective as treatment with water containing 200 ppm chlorine, which generally reduces populations by 10-100-fold.

5) Heavily contaminated fruits and vegetables should be subjected to a double wash treatment. Success in removing soil or faecal matter, and the contaminants therein, is more likely to be achieved by first washing in potable water and then washing or rinsing in water containing a disinfectant.

6) The temperature of wash-water should be higher than that of the fruits or vegetables in order to minimize uptake of microorganisms by tissues.

7) The lethal effect of chlorine occurs within the first few seconds of treatment. The population of microorganisms decreases as the concentration of chlorine increases to about 300 ppm, above which effectiveness is not proportional to increased concentration.

7) Leaving fruits and vegetables wet after disinfecting or washing can negate any beneficial effect of treatment. . . . .

8) Trisodium phosphate has good potential as a disinfectant for whole fruits and vegetables in a commercial setting. Use in households may be limited, however, because the high alkalinity of TSP may cause skin irritation.

9) Although disinfectants have variable effects on pathogen control on fresh fruits and vegetables, they are certainly useful for sanitizing wash-water to prevent contamination of the produce that could result from using waters that are not microbiologically safe.

l10) Organic acids (e.g. acetic, lactic, citric and peroxyacetic acids) have good potential as disinfectants for fruits and vegetables, but conditions under which they are most effective have not been defined."

Carol

from WHO Surface decontamination of fruits and vegetables eaten raw: a review