mobile-logo
Recall analysisUK · Great Britain, with US case evidence

Is Cold-Pressed Juice Safe? Pathogens, HPP and Why Juice Gets Recalled

Is cold-pressed juice safe? Pressing does not kill microbes, so untreated cold-pressed juice can carry pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 or Salmonella from the produce[1]. A validated HPP[2] or heat treatment, good hygiene and an unbroken cold chain make it much safer, and recent juice recalls trace back to one of those controls failing[3][4].
PKDr Priya Krishnan
VP of Manufacturing Operations & Pilot Plant Solutions, Food Research Lab
✓ Technically reviewed by FRL Editorial · Last reviewed: 12 November 2026 · Next review: May 2027
Posted
12 November 2026
Last checked
12 November 2026
Reading time
11 min
Sources
22
Validate your juice processRead the official text ↗
At a glance
  • Pressing is not a kill step: untreated juice keeps whatever the produce and the plant bring in.
  • Acidity stops most pathogens growing but does not reliably kill them.
  • HPP at 400–600 MPa reduces vegetative pathogens but not spores, so HPP juice depends on the cold chain.
  • US law requires a 5-log reduction or a warning label; GB law relies on general food safety duties, HACCP and microbiological criteria.
  • Recorded recalls trace to no treatment, incomplete HPP or under-processing, labelling errors and spoilage.
Key numbers
99.999%
Reduction delivered by a 5-log process, the US juice HACCP minimum [5]
70
People infected in the 1996 unpasteurised apple juice outbreak; 14 developed HUS, 1 died [6]
21
Juice-associated outbreaks in the US, 1995–2005, with 1,366 illnesses [7]
400–600 MPa
Typical HPP pressure, with 1.5–6 min holds [2]
2,718
Happy Moose bottles produced in the 2024 run that partly missed HPP [3]

What “cold-pressed” means, and what it does not

Cold-pressed juice is extracted by mechanically pressing fruit and vegetables without heat. Pressing keeps the fresh flavour, but it does nothing to remove microbes carried on the produce. “Cold-pressed” is not one of the reserved juice names in the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (England) Regulations 2013[8], so it describes the extraction method, not safety, and the rest of the label must not mislead about how the drink was made[9].

Two kinds of cold-pressed juice reach the shelf. Untreated (raw) juice has had no step to reduce pathogens and typically carries a short chilled life. HPP juice has been treated in the sealed bottle by high pressure processing, a non-thermal kill step. Some brands also pasteurise gently with heat. Is cold-pressed juice safe? That depends on which of these it is and on how well the controls behind it work.

Why unpasteurised juice can be unsafe

Without a treatment, juice carries forward whatever came in on the raw produce from soil, water, animals and handling. The FSA notes that the low pH of fruit generally prevents pathogenic bacteria from growing, but that pathogens can survive without increasing in number, which is a particular concern in unpasteurised products[1]. Acidity is a useful hurdle, not a kill step.

The pathogens of concern

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) such as O157:H7, Salmonella and the parasite Cryptosporidium are the causes most often found in juice outbreaks, with Listeria monocytogenes a concern in chilled products. US surveillance recorded 21 juice-associated outbreaks from 1995 to 2005, with 1,366 illnesses; of the 13 with a known cause, five were Salmonella and five E. coli O157:H7[7].

The best-documented case is a 1996 outbreak linked to one brand of unpasteurised commercial apple juice in the western US and British Columbia. Seventy people were infected with E. coli O157:H7, 25 were hospitalised, 14 developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome and one died. Investigators suspected incoming apples, including lots from an orchard visited by deer, and concluded that standard procedures at a modern plant were not enough to eliminate the pathogen[6]. Outbreaks like this led the US FDA to adopt its juice HACCP rule in 2001[10].

The US juice rules: 5-log and the warning label

Under 21 CFR 120.24, US juice processors must apply controls that consistently achieve at least a 5-log (99.999%) reduction in the pertinent microorganism, the most resistant pathogen of public health significance likely to occur in the juice, for at least the shelf life under normal and moderate abuse conditions[5]. Juice that has not been processed this way must carry a warning when sold to consumers: “This product has not been pasteurized and, therefore, may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.”[11]

GB law has no juice-specific log-reduction rule or warning statement. Instead, food business operators must not place unsafe food on the market and must withdraw, recall and inform the authorities when food they supplied is unsafe[12]; they must run HACCP-based procedures[13]; and unpasteurised ready-to-eat juices must meet a Salmonella food safety criterion (not detected in 25 g) and an E. coli process hygiene criterion[14]. Many UK producers still use the US 5-log figure as their validation target, because it is the clearest published benchmark.

How HPP makes juice safer, and its limits

High pressure processing treats the sealed bottle at pressures typically between 400 and 600 MPa, held for 1.5 to 6 minutes. Its effect on vegetative microorganisms depends on the food’s pH and water activity, the pressure and hold time, and the organism, strain and its physiological state. HPP does not inactivate bacterial spores[2].

Pathogen strains vary widely in their resistance to pressure, and the juice’s pH and soluble solids change that resistance, so a validation study must use challenge strains and a matrix that match the real recipe[15]. A process proven on apple juice cannot simply be assumed for a low-acid green juice.

Spores matter because low-acid juices, such as carrot or many vegetable blends, have no acidity barrier. In 2006, pasteurised carrot juice caused six cases of severe botulism in Georgia, Florida and Ontario; the juice had no barrier to Clostridium botulinum other than refrigeration, and inappropriate refrigeration probably allowed toxin to form[16]. For HPP juice the lesson is the same: the bottle must stay cold from the plant to the consumer, and the date mark must come from a shelf-life study.

What happened: cold-pressed and HPP juice recalls on record

The recalls below are drawn from FDA enforcement data, FDA recall notices and FSA alerts. They show the four ways a cold-pressed juice usually ends up recalled: no treatment, an incomplete treatment, a labelling error and spoilage.

Year Product and market What went wrong Outcome
2018 Luckyberry Cold-Pressed Juice, nine variants, Lawrence, Kansas (US) Unpasteurised juice distributed to retailers in violation of the juice HACCP rule Voluntary recall, FDA Class II[17]
2020 Lidl Naturis Cold Pressed Juice ‘Rooting For You’ variant, 750 ml (GB) Sulphur dioxide not correctly declared on the label Recall with FSA allergy alert FSA-AA-26-2020[18]
2024 Happy Moose Tropical Roots and Strawberry Fields, 12 fl oz, made by co-manufacturer Youngstown Grape Distributors (US) Part of the production run did not complete HPP; found after complaints of spoiled juice 2,718 bottles produced; no illnesses reported; FDA Class II, with three Farmers Juice products[3][19]
2025 Everpress Juice, seven ‘JUICE from the Raw’ products, Philadelphia (US) Under-processed product that may contain pathogenic bacteria Initiated 24 July 2025; FDA Class I on 2 February 2026; shipped to 24 states[4]

Spoilage recalls happen too. In 2018 PepsiCo recalled a batch of Tropicana Trop 50 Multivitamins juice in the UK because fermentation was spoiling it: bottles could appear bloated, with sediment or fizz[20]. That was an ambient juice, not a cold-pressed one, but the mechanism, organisms surviving and growing in the pack, is the same risk an HPP juice faces when hygiene, treatment or temperature control slips. FRL’s analysis of the Slimsy squash swollen-bottle recall looks at the same failure in a concentrate.

What the regulators established

In the US, FDA classifies recalls by risk. Class I covers products with a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death; Class II covers products that may cause temporary or medically reversible effects, or where the probability of serious consequences is remote[21]. FDA placed the Everpress under-processing recall in Class I and the Happy Moose incomplete-HPP recall in Class II[4][19]. In both, the finding was that a treatment the product relied on had not been fully delivered, not that illness had occurred.

In the Luckyberry case, the finding was simpler: juice sold through retailers without the process controls the juice HACCP rule requires[17]. In the UK Naturis case, the issue was an undeclared allergen, which made the product a risk to people sensitive to sulphites even though nothing was wrong with its microbiology[18].

What is not known

  • Root causes. FDA’s records do not say how part of the Happy Moose run missed HPP, or what process Everpress intended and how it fell short[3][4].
  • Quantities. Everpress reported the quantity as unknown, and the Happy Moose figure is bottles produced, not bottles sold[4][3].
  • Classification reasons. FDA does not publish why one under-processing event was Class I and the other Class II.
  • UK picture. In the FSA alert data we checked, the only cold-pressed juice alert was the Naturis allergy alert; we found no UK pathogen recall of cold-pressed juice. That is not evidence that UK raw juice is risk-free: US data show that juice outbreaks continue to involve operations that are exempt from, or do not comply with, process controls[7].

Risk analysis: where cold-pressed juice fails

Failure Documented example Control that prevents it
Contaminated raw produce 1996 apple juice outbreak, apples from a deer-visited orchard and decayed fruit suspected[6] Supplier approval, culling, washing, then a validated kill step
No treatment Luckyberry, 2018[17] HACCP plan with a kill step, or clear labelling and controls for raw juice
Incomplete treatment Happy Moose, 2024; Everpress, 2025[3][4] Pressure and hold records per batch, physical segregation of treated and untreated packs, release check before dispatch
Temperature abuse of a low-acid juice Carrot juice botulism, 2006[16] Cold chain monitoring, clear storage instructions, date set from a shelf-life study
Spoilage organisms Tropicana Trop 50, UK, 2018[20] Hygiene and CIP, preservation hurdles, shelf-life and challenge testing
Labelling error Naturis, UK, 2020; 3 of 30 orange juices with sugar below the declared value in FSA sampling[18][22] Label check against the final recipe and test results, allergen review
Timeline with three preventive controls (raw material and pressing, validated HPP or heat treatment, release testing and cold chain) followed by three reactive steps (signal from a positive result or complaint; hold, withdraw and inform authorities; root cause and corrective action)
Figure 1. Where a juice recall starts: three preventive controls and three reactive steps. Based on GB general food law duties [12] and FSA guidance [1].

Lessons: preventing a juice recall

For cold-pressed juice, prevention is layered and release is the last gate. The full production chain is set out in how beverages are manufactured; the controls that matter most for juice are below.

Control What it does Record to keep
Raw material control Limits what enters the press Supplier approval, intake checks, test results
Validated treatment HPP or heat reduces pathogens by a known, validated amount Pressure and hold, or time and temperature, for every batch
Segregation Stops untreated bottles being dispatched as treated Batch status labels, treated/untreated counts
Hygiene and CIP Prevents re-contamination after treatment Cleaning and verification logs
Cold chain Slows growth in chilled product and prevents toxin formation in low-acid juices Storage and distribution temperatures
Release criteria Stops a failing batch leaving the plant Batch release record, micro results, shelf-life data

Formulator’s note: treat each juice as its own validation case. Apple, citrus and green juices differ in pH and soluble solids, so confirm the pressure, hold time and cold chain on each recipe, and challenge-test where the risk justifies it.

To choose between HPP and heat, see HPP vs thermal pasteurisation and hot fill vs cold fill vs aseptic vs HPP. To set the date mark, see real-time vs accelerated shelf-life testing. FRL’s cold-pressed juice lab note records a trial comparing low-temperature, HTST and UHT heat treatments on a juice prototype. More cases are collected in our recall insights.

Conclusion: is cold-pressed juice safe?

Is cold-pressed juice safe? It is much safer when a validated treatment, good hygiene and an unbroken cold chain sit behind it, and risky when the word “cold-pressed” is all there is. The recalls on record show that the treatment has to be delivered to every bottle, the label has to match the recipe, and the date has to come from data. Test the process, not only the product.

For brands & formulators

Food Research Lab helps UK juice brands from Chennai, India. We review your HACCP plan and kill step, design the HPP or heat-treatment validation and challenge study, set release criteria and check labels against the recipe. Challenge, microbiological and shelf-life testing, and HPP trials, are run or arranged through accredited partner laboratories and processing partners; commercial runs are managed through vetted co-packers.

See our beverages manufacturing service, our regulatory and scientific research team for label and recall-readiness reviews, and new food product development for recipe work. You can also contact us with your juice range and process.

In this series

What to do now
  • ✓Decide your category: untreated, HPP or heat-treated, and make the label say so accurately.
  • ✓Validate the kill step on each recipe with matrix-matched challenge strains.
  • ✓Segregate treated and untreated bottles and reconcile counts before dispatch.
  • ✓Monitor the cold chain, especially for low-acid vegetable juices.
  • ✓Write a recall plan: hold, withdraw or recall, and inform the authorities.
Your next step
Stress-test your juice process before launch
1Send your juice range, recipes, process and target shelf life.
2We review your HACCP plan and design the validation and challenge study, with testing and HPP trials run or arranged through accredited partners.
3Receive release criteria, a shelf-life plan and a label check against the recipe.
Talk to our beverage teamContact us
Questions brands ask
Is cold-pressed juice safe to drink?

Cold-pressed juice is much safer when treated by HPP or gentle pasteurisation, made hygienically and kept cold. Untreated juice can carry E. coli O157, Salmonella or Listeria from the produce; US law makes untreated juice warn that the risk is greatest for children, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system.

Why is unpasteurised juice risky?

Pressing does not kill microbes, so pathogens on the fruit or vegetables pass into the juice. Fruit acidity usually stops them growing, but the FSA notes they can survive without multiplying. A 1996 unpasteurised apple juice outbreak in North America infected 70 people with E. coli O157:H7, and one person died.

Does HPP make cold-pressed juice safe?

HPP greatly reduces vegetative pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria when the pressure and hold time have been validated for that recipe. It does not kill bacterial spores, so HPP juice must stay refrigerated, and every bottle must actually complete the cycle. Hygiene and raw material control still matter.

Why do cold-pressed juices get recalled?

Most cold-pressed juice recalls come from four causes: juice sold with no kill step, a treatment such as HPP that was not completed, a labelling error such as an undeclared allergen, or spoilage that makes bottles swell. FDA and FSA records include examples of each, from Luckyberry and Happy Moose to Lidl’s Naturis juice.

How long does cold-pressed juice last?

There is no single answer. Untreated juice usually has a short chilled life, and HPP extends it, but the safe date depends on the recipe, pH, starting microbial load, pack and storage temperature. The date mark should come from a shelf-life study on the real product, including challenge testing where pathogens could grow.

Do UK rules require cold-pressed juice to be pasteurised?

No. GB law does not require juice to be pasteurised or set a juice-specific log reduction. Producers must still place only safe food on the market, run HACCP-based controls, and meet the microbiological criteria for unpasteurised ready-to-eat juices: Salmonella not detected in 25 g, plus an E. coli process hygiene limit.

References
  1. Food Standards Agency. (n.d.). Food types and microorganisms of concern to food safety (MyHACCP guidance). https://myhaccp.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2022-03/food_types_and_microorganisms_of_concern_to_food_safety.pdf (cited for pathogens surviving without growth in low-pH fruit products, a particular concern in unpasteurised products)
  2. EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ), Koutsoumanis, K., Alvarez-Ordóñez, A., Bolton, D., et al. (2022). The efficacy and safety of high-pressure processing of food. EFSA Journal, 20(3), e07128. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7128 (cited for 400–600 MPa and 1.5–6 min, factors driving efficacy, and that HPP does not inactivate spores)
  3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2024, 7 October). Youngstown Grape Distributors Inc. recalls Happy Moose Juice Tropical Roots and Happy Moose Strawberry Fields because of possible health risk (company announcement, 4 October 2024). https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/youngstown-grape-distributors-inc-recalls-happy-moose-juice-tropical-roots-and-happy-moose (cited for incomplete HPP, 2,718 bottles, the pathogens named, complaints of spoiled juice and no reported illness)
  4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2026). Enforcement report: Everpress Juice, recall numbers H-0450-2026 to H-0456-2026 (Class I). openFDA food enforcement data. https://api.fda.gov/food/enforcement.json?search=recalling_firm:Everpress&limit=10 (cited for under-processed product, initiation 24 July 2025, Class I on 2 February 2026, 24 states, quantity unknown)
  5. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (current text). 21 CFR 120.24 Process controls. eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-120/subpart-B/section-120.24 (cited for the 5-log reduction in the pertinent microorganism for the shelf life under normal and moderate abuse conditions)
  6. Cody, S. H., Glynn, M. K., Farrar, J. A., Cairns, K. L., Griffin, P. M., Kobayashi, J., et al. (1999). An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection from unpasteurized commercial apple juice. Annals of Internal Medicine, 130(3), 202–209. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-130-3-199902020-00005 (cited for 70 cases, 25 hospitalised, 14 HUS, 1 death and the suspected apple sources)
  7. Vojdani, J. D., Beuchat, L. R., & Tauxe, R. V. (2008). Juice-associated outbreaks of human illness in the United States, 1995 through 2005. Journal of Food Protection, 71(2), 356–364. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028x-71.2.356 (cited for 21 outbreaks, 1,366 illnesses, the pathogens involved and the effect of juice HACCP)
  8. The Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (England) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2775). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/2775/contents (cited for reserved juice names and composition rules)
  9. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2011). Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (Article 7), as assimilated in GB law. legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/article/7 (cited for the rule that food information must not mislead, including about method of production)
  10. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2001). Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP); procedures for the safe and sanitary processing and importing of juice. Final rule. Federal Register, 66, 6138. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/01/19/01-1291/hazard-analysis-and-critical-control-point-haacp-procedures-for-the-safe-and-sanitary-processing-and (cited for the 2001 juice HACCP rule)
  11. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (current text). 21 CFR 101.17(g) Juices that have not been specifically processed to prevent, reduce, or eliminate the presence of pathogens. eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-101/subpart-A/section-101.17 (cited for the mandatory warning statement on untreated juice)
  12. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2002). Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law (Articles 14 and 19), as assimilated in GB law. legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2002/178/contents (cited for the unsafe food rule and the duty to withdraw, recall and inform the authorities)
  13. European Parliament & Council of the European Union. (2004). Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (Article 5), as assimilated in GB law. legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/852/contents (cited for HACCP-based procedures)
  14. European Commission. (2005). Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs (Annex I, criteria 1.20 and 2.5.2), as assimilated in GB law. legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2005/2073/annex/I (cited for the Salmonella and E. coli criteria for unpasteurised ready-to-eat juices)
  15. Gouvea, F. S., Koutchma, T., Ferreira, E. H. R., Walter, E. H. M., & Rosenthal, A. (2023). Resistance of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes in high and low-acidity juices processed by high hydrostatic pressure. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 395, 110189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110189 (review cited for strain variation in pressure resistance, the effect of pH and soluble solids, and choice of challenge organisms)
  16. Sheth, A. N., Wiersma, P., Atrubin, D., Dubey, V., Zink, D., Skinner, G., et al. (2008). International outbreak of severe botulism with prolonged toxemia caused by commercial carrot juice. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 47(10), 1245–1251. https://doi.org/10.1086/592574 (cited for six cases in Georgia, Florida and Ontario, refrigeration as the only barrier, and FDA guidance on refrigerated low-acid juices)
  17. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2019). Enforcement report: Luckyberry Cold-Pressed Juice, recall numbers F-0766-2019 to F-0774-2019 (Class II). openFDA food enforcement data. https://api.fda.gov/food/enforcement.json?search=recalling_firm:Luckyberry&limit=10 (cited for unpasteurised juice distributed to retailers in violation of 21 CFR 120)
  18. Food Standards Agency. (2020, 30 March). Lidl recalls Naturis Cold Pressed Juice Assorted ‘Rooting For You’ variant because of undeclared sulphur dioxide (FSA-AA-26-2020). FSA alert record: https://data.food.gov.uk/food-alerts/id/FSA-AA-26-2020 (cited for the UK cold-pressed juice allergy alert)
  19. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2024). Enforcement report: Youngstown Grape Distributors, recall numbers F-0058-2025 to F-0062-2025 (Class II, “Incomplete pasteurization”). openFDA food enforcement data. https://api.fda.gov/food/enforcement.json?search=recalling_firm:Youngstown&limit=10 (cited for the classification and the additional Farmers Juice products)
  20. Food Standards Agency. (2018, 27 July). PepsiCo recalls Tropicana Trop 50 Multivitamins Juice (FSA-PRIN-41-2018). FSA alert record: https://data.food.gov.uk/food-alerts/id/FSA-PRIN-41-2018 (cited for the UK juice recall for fermentation spoilage and bloated bottles)
  21. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (current text). 21 CFR 7.3 Definitions (recall classifications). eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-7/subpart-A/section-7.3 (cited for Class I and Class II definitions)
  22. Scarrett, A., & Cooke, S. (2024). Surveillance sampling programme (2023–24). Food Standards Agency. https://doi.org/10.46756/sci.fsa.edy500 (cited for 30 orange juice samples, 87% compliance and three sugar-labelling failures)

Food Research Circle Logo
Let’s create something Innovative and Delicious together

Food Research Lab strives for excellence in new Food, Beverage and Nutraceutical Product Research and Development by offering cutting edge scientific analysis and expertise.

New Product Concepts

New Product Concepts
Sample Request

Sample Request
Quote Request

Quote Request
Connect An Expert

Connect an Expert
whatsapp