Can homemade cider make people sick?
Anything food can harbor potential pathogens. Yet, properly and cleanly prepared foods pose less of a risk in harboring those pathogens than foods that are improperly prepared. Additionally, the better equipped your immune system is, the easier it will be to fight off potential pathogens that you come across. Keep in mind, of course, that beneficial bacteria including those found in fermented foods can help your immune system develop its full potential – particularly in the digestive tract. Traditional methods of food preservation including fermentation provided a safe way to store foods for our ancestors and has been used for at least 12,000 years. In many ways, we evolved on fermented foods. It wasn’t until the latter decades of the nineteenth century that pasteurization as a way to kill potential pathogens began to be used for beverages like wine, milk and, of course, cider. The result of pasteurization was dead food – that is, food that is nutritionally inferior due to its lack of
