Health Risks Associated with Commerically Available Juices

As we all know, pasteurization is the most common method employed to make our milk and juices 'safe' to drink. We also know that pasteurization is heating the milk or juice to a high temperature to destroy all of the pathogens (germs). Unfortunately, this heating also kills the benefical bacteria as well. As far as milk goes, this doesn't even begin to touch the surface of the many problems related to our commercially available cow's milk. There is all of the antibiotics, BGH (bovine growth hormone) and rbST (recombinant bovine somatotropin) that are administered. Obviously, what ever the cows are given will make it's way into our milk, in one form or another.

This article is about juice however. There are also other methods besides pasteurization used to render our juices safe, but about 98% of all juices sold in the United States have been pasteurized. Some other methods of making our juice safe are, UV irradiation, surface treatment of the fruit itself or high pressure treatment. The juices that have been treated using one of these alternative methods are labeled as "treated."

There have been two fairly (2005) recent outbreaks of illness due to juice being improperly treated utilizing a method other than pasteurization. One outbreak was blamed on improperly treating the surface of the fruit, and the other was due to improper ozone treatment.

It is obviously considered safe to pasteurize our juices and milk, even though the process would seem to alter the products negatively. Regardless, if you believe that pasteurized juice or milk is something you want to continue drinking or not, one thing is certain - when you make your own juice with fresh (thoroughly washed) fruits and vegetables, you're going to get a healthier juice than any you purchase in your local grocery store, pasterized or treated.