enigma wrote:
>
>
> uh, no. it is illegal to use 'drops' (fallen apples) for cider
> in the US. it has been illegal for at least 4 years now. once
> the apples fall, the orchard is not allowed to use them for
> any purpose, except maybe animal feed (i get huge bags of
> drops free from a local orchard because he can't sell them. he
> thinks i feed them to my goats...)


That's a damned shame. The dropped apples are a significant portion of
the orchard production. Even 5% could mean the difference between profit
and loss. However, I may be behind the times on that. It has been
almost 10 years since I had an orchard next to me and even longer before
that a friend of mine was using the drops for cider. I did a bit of
research and it appears that there are a number of contamination issues
with the dropped apples.



> the theory is that drops may have salmonella from bird
> droppings. anyone with half a brain would realize they aren't
> any more likely to have droppings on them than the apples
> still on the trees, *and* regulations already require apples
> to be pressed be washed in a bleach solution, but, government
> loves to regulate, so no drops allowed for human consumption.
> there *is* one bright spot in my state however.

There are some interesting theories around. There is a large wild life
park a few miles from my house and I can understand dogs requiring
leashes so they don't chase the animals, but the stoop and scoop laws
apply. The park is home to hundreds of deer, raccoons, squirrels,
turkeys and other wild animals and there are horse riding trails through
it. They are all crapping to their hearts content so I fail to see how
a little dog crap is going to upset the balance.

There was one article about contaminated apples I came across that
indicated one farm had a problem with e-coli contamination. They were
washing their apples with water from their well. There was a cattle farm
across the road and the bacteria had contaminated their well.


> gentleman who makes apple vodka, & *he* has special
> dispensation to use drops, as alcohol kills salmonella.
> unfortunately he has limited production capacity, so many
> orchards are going belly-up from the huge waste of the fallen
> apples...
>
>
> lee <i use the drops for cider. i use it both fresh &
> fermented. i don't care what the law says. i'm resposible for
> my own health>

If the alcohol in vodka kills the bacteria would the alcohol is hard
cider not do the same? Obviously there is more alcohol in vodka and it
gets boiled in the distillation process, but cider still has significant
alcohol content.