If someone were to ask you, “Would you like some patulin with your apple juice?” Your answer should be, “Apple-solutely not.” That’s because patulin is a mycotoxin, with the prefix “myco” standing for fungus and “toxin” standing for, well, toxin. In general, it’s not a good idea to drink something labeled as a toxin. And since this particular toxin can cause a whole host of health problems in humans, the potential presence of too much patulin has prompted an apple juice recall.
Specifically, S Martinelli & Company has recalled 7,234 cases of their signature apple juice. Six packs per case and four bottles per pack means that this recall involves 173,616 bottles of Martinelli’s apple juice. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has indicated that this is a voluntary recall, initiated by the company on March 18.
The Apple Juice Recall Affects 28 States
So if you did get apple juice in a 10-ounce “bulbous/round glass bottle” with a “white metal screw top lid,” you may want to take a closer look at the Universal Product Code and “best by” date on it. A UPC number of “0 41244 04102 2” and a “best by” date is Dec. 5, 2026, means that your apple juice is part of the recall. That means that your “return by” or “discard by” date for this apple juice should be now. And remember discarding a recalled product doesn’t mean feeding it to your roommate. It means disposing it in the trash in a manner that no one else can consume it.
This recall is encompassing Martinelli’s apple juice shipped to the following 28 U.S. states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Apple Juice Recall Is Due To Potential Contamination With Patulin
Now, it’s not clear how many bottles were actually contaminated with the mycotoxin. Patulin is produced by different molds such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Byssochlamys. Molds belong to the kingdom of Fungi and is a specific form of fungi that grow filament structures known as hyphae. Such molds can grow on a variety of fruits, including apples, especially rotting ones. The potential presence of patulin is yet another reason why you shouldn’t say, “Hey, I’ve found a bunch of rotting apples. Let’s make some apple juice.”
Patulin is resistant to heat and pasteurization. So, it can be difficult to completely get rid of all patulin. That’s why patulin levels need to be measured and stay below the allowable limits in apple products. The FDA set a maximum limit of 50 micrograms per kilogram in 2005 for apple juice products. The European Union follows the World Health Organization recommended threshold of no more than 50 μg/L in apple juice and cider, 25 ng/g in solid apple products, and 10 ng/g in products for infants and young children as described in a review article in Trends in Food Science and Technology.
The Apple Juice Recall Is Listed As Class II By The FDA
The FDA has categorized this apple juice recall as Class II, which means that the using the product “may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.” For context, that’s one class higher than the Class III butter recall for the potential presence of poop that I recently wrote about in Forbes. If you are wondering. consuming poop is not good.
Neither is consuming patulin. Consuming too much of it can result in immediate symptoms such nausea, vomiting, and various types of gastrointestinal distress. But even more concerning are the possible longer-term effect like damage to your liver and kidney and suppression of your immune system. There is also the risk of damage to your DNA, which ultimately can lead to other changes. Additionally, patulin could be carcinogenic, meaning that it could cause cancer, although there hasn’t been enough longer-term studies to confirm whether this is the case.
So if you see apple juice anywhere, you may want to say, “How about them apple juices?” And check whether they are from S Martinelli & Company and are affected by the apple juice recall. After all, it’s no fun to consume a toxin from a fungus.
