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Re: Odwalla Juice



On 21 Nov 1996 15:12:26 -0500, david_d@efn.org (David DeCou) wrote:

>Jonathan-
>        I should not have implied that there is a conspiracy going on. But
>as an organic producer I have heard repeated rumors repeated by the media
>that this E. Coli problem should be of grave concern to anyone eating
>organic food.

The news media also has been advising the public to not drink any
fruit juice which isn't pasteurized. Good Morning America did a piece
with a supposed expert who actually said that boiling cider for
several minutes would not affect the flavor or nutritional value. I
wonder if this person has actually done this? I have, and it changes
the flavor considerably. I don't have the equipment to test for
nutritional value, but I have read that heat destroys that as well. If
she is used to drinking junk out of those little cardboard drink
boxes, I guess she might not know any better.

>The fact that Odwalla portrayed itself as a Green business
>and has only one product made from organically grown crops (which was not
>tainted with E. Coli) has created this false impression. A woman I know
>told me Tuesday that her mother, in Florida, has been hearing repeatedly on
>the news that everyone needs to go to extreme measures if they eat Organic
>produce. 

I would guess that there might be a problem whenever cow manure is
used for fertilizer whether or not the producer used other organic
growing techniques. Applying raw manure too closely to planting an
edible crop(or close to harvest in the case of apples) poses a risk.
The media of course oversimplifies, equating the use of manure with
"organic".   

>That is not a conspiracy but it is news without any basis similiar
>to the ALAR news of a few years ago which I am sure also hurt your apple
>sales. I will try not imply anything about conspiracies in the future.

Odd, I don't recall anyone in the anti-pesticide crowd criticizing the
media for reporting "news without any basis" in the Alar case. ; )

>        I am extremely concerned about these E. Coli incidents. It seems
>that microbes are evolving around many of the tools humanity has developed
>to protect itself. A friend mentioned yesterday that some of the genetic
>engineering which has been done has used some parts of some  strain of E.
>Coli to manipulate things. With the widespread use of antibiotics and
>genetic engineering who knows what natue will throw at us next.

I have read some articles which document isolates of E.coli serotype
0157:H7 which are able to tolerate lower pH levels than was previously
thought. I don't think it results from genetic engineering, rather I
would imagine natural selection for the  individuals in a population
which can survive a certain set of conditions, whether it be fruit
acid or constant exposure to low levels of antibiotics. This is how
the resistance model works in the case of insect pest species, plant
diseases and pesticides. 

I don't want to speculate on how the organism might have gotten into
the cider. Clearly, either 0157:H7 has adapted to conditions in which
it previously could not survive, or a vector has been created ( eg.
wider spread use of manure/possible misuse of raw manure, or a new
carrier) which previously did not exist.

Regards, 
Jonathan