The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on July 8, that Orchid Island Juice Co. of Fort Pierce, Florida was recalling unpasteurized orange juice after fifteen cases of Salmonella Typhimurium were traced to consumption of Orchid Island orange juice. In light of the FDA’s recall announcement, Seattle attorney William Marler of Marler Clark has called again on the FDA to completely ban the sale of all unpasteurized juices.
In 1998, the FDA required that juice makers label unpasteurized juices with the statement, “WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and, therefore, may contain harmful bacteria which can cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.” But although at least three large Salmonella outbreaks have been traced to contaminated juice products since 1999(1), the FDA does not require juice companies to pasteurize juice, and no longer requires producers of unpasteurized juice to provide warning labels on their juice products.
“It is simply outrageous that after all we’ve learned about the importance of pasteurizing fruit juice, especially after the Odwalla and Sun Orchard outbreaks, we still have companies selling unpasteurized juices without warnings, the government allowing it, and people getting sick because of it,” said Marler. “Why the FDA would allow a company to produce an unpasteurized product and allow no warning label is beyond me.”
Symptoms of Salmonella infection include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, nausea, and/or vomiting, and usually begin within 6 to 72 hours after ingestion of the bacteria.
“I’ve represented thousands of victims of Salmonella outbreaks,” Marler continued. “Infections are not pretty. These people suffer from intense abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and severe nausea and vomiting. These 15 people could be perfectly healthy had the juice they were sold been pasteurized.”