The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assigned its highest risk level to a juice product sold online in 24 states.
“Under-processed product may contain pathogenic bacteria that could harm to humans,” FDA officials said in the enforcement report.
Pathogenic bacteria are a type of infectious agent, like Salmonella or E.Coli.
The seven flavors under recall are Detox Greens, Sweet Greens, Pineapple Mint, Upbeat, Spicy Lemonade, Cashew Milk, and Cashew Coffee Milk.
Everpress Juice company leaders did not respond to requests for comment.
Discrepancies of this kind typically come to light when someone verifies the product, according to Cape Crystal Brands founder and food science consultant Ed McCormick.
“Most often through routine testing, typically conducted by regulators, a third-party laboratory, or sometimes even a competitor’s analysis,” McCormick told NTD.
The 24 states in which the beverage was distributed include Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
The original recall was announced on July 24, 202,5 and since then, the FDA categorized the juice as a class 1 event, its highest risk warning.
A Class 1 event is defined on the FDA website as having a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to will cause serious adverse health consequences or death, while Class 2 signals that the risk is temporary or adverse health consequences are medically reversible.
A Class 3 label involves products that violate regulations but are unlikely to cause health problems, such as minor labeling errors.
In a similar but separate recall announced last year, Evergreen Orchard Farm of Hamilton, New Jersey, voluntarily withdrew more than 22,000 pouches of fruit juice distributed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York due to a lack of pasteurization and sanitation records, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The three different flavors under recall are Korean Pear Juice, Grape Juice, and Jujube Juice, which were all packaged in foil pouches and sold in cases of 25.
The withdrawal was prompted by a lack of records verifying pasteurization and sanitation during juice processing, according to the FDA, and such documentation is crucial in preventing contamination by harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella.
Symptoms of foodborne illness can include diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Severe cases may involve bloody diarrhea, high fever, dehydration, or kidney complications.