As the Food and Drug Administration continues to force small juice companies to abandon their raw practices, the oldest local non-pasteurizing juicer has opted for closure instead of compliance.
Genesis Juice Co-op — Eugene’s only raw, organic juice company since 1977 — will close this month after failing to find a legal loophole in federal juicing regulations.
“Watch out because the federal government just keeps coming down on the people,” Genesis Juice Co-op President Benjamin Cutler said to local supporters.
Genesis refuses to comply with the Juice Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, or HACCP Law, which prohibits the distribution of juice that isn’t pasteurized or “sanitized.”
The law states that small juice businesses that don’t sell directly to consumers must have complied with the FDA regulations by January 2004. On Jan. 29, Genesis’ four company owners gave letters to the other 18 employees, stating that the cooperative was closing on Feb. 13 because of the new rules. They also gave copies to customers to thank them for the support.
The co-op’s more specific reason for closing, however, is because some retailers, including organic food industry leader Wild Oats, have voluntarily pulled Genesis Juice from their shelves.
“We’re all screwed,” Genesis co-owner Melissa Druck said. “We’ll get unemployment and the company goes for sale. That’s just how it is.”
About a week ago, the owners met and decided it was time to face the inevitable.
“We personally chose not to comply,” Cutler said.
Three months after a HACCP specialist from the FDA visited Genesis in mid-August 2003, the agency sent an official warning letter to the company detailing the company’s HACCP violations. The letter, addressed to Cutler, stated that a written HACCP plan and consistent sanitation control records must be in order by 2004 to comply. The letter also threatened noncompliance with “further action to seize your products” and an injunction from operation.
“We’ve been working on the HACCP plan since then, but it’s the FDA that made the decision,” Cutler said.
In Cutler’s opinion, the FDA has ignored the proven health benefits of raw juice therapy and the nutritional importance of raw produce.
“They’re taking away people’s right to choose,” Cutler added.
Over the years, Genesis has strongly advocated for the benefits of raw juice and the preservation of enzymes inherent in raw produce. According to raw juice advocates, any temperature exposure above 117 degrees has the potential of killing all natural enzymes and most nutrients in raw fruit.
The cheapest and most common HACCP-approved process is “flash pasteurization,” which involves briefly flowing the juice over a 160-degree surface to kill viruses like E. coli. Despite the short exposure interval, the process still violates the nutritional standard for which Genesis stands, Druck said.
The HACCP regulations stemmed from several poisoning incidents, including a 1996 E. coli outbreak caused by contaminated Odwalla fruit juices. Odwalla used “windfallen” apples from its cow manure-covered fields and inadvertently spread the bacteria because it didn’t pasteurize.
However, Cutler said Genesis only uses hand-picked fruit and that the company’s $2 million insurance plan has never been tainted by a lawsuit, which is why he called the regulations absurd.
FDA Public Affairs Specialist Alan Bennett said the main purpose of the rules is to protect public health. Had Genesis objected to the HACCP rules and provided well-performed research to support raw juice, Bennett said things might have been different.
But when the FDA requested public comment on the possible HACCP law in 1998 and again in 2001, Bennett found, the agency heard several concerns about bacterial outbreaks and none about raw juice health benefits.
“We’re a science-based law enforcement agency,” Bennett said. “If there is scientific evidence behind (the health benefits of raw juice), even today, people could file a petition to get the law changed.”
Although Cutler has heard rumors about possible loopholes in the HACCP guidelines, he said most are false or unfeasible.
“We’re pretty short staffed as it is, and we haven’t had the chance to try different options,” he said.
With no petition plans ahead, Cutler said he still hopes that some good might come of the closure.
“This won’t be such a bad thing if small, local raw juice bars start popping up all over the place,” he said.
After the final shipment of Genesis Juice products go out on Feb. 3, it will be available until Feb. 13, after which any leftover store juice will be removed. Cutler said those with glass bottles should redeem them by Feb. 12 at stores and by Feb. 13 at the factory, which is located at 325 W. Third Ave., Suite B.
If the co-op is successfully sold, Cutler said it will probably become a pasteurized juice outlet. If the company isn’t sold, he said the factory will be shut down and all juicing equipment will be sold instead.
“Either way, we have a lot of work to do,” he added.