Glossary · Law and labelling
Patulin limit
Definition
The maximum permitted concentration of patulin in apple juice and apple products, set by food safety regulators and reflected in international standards.
- Subject
- Law and labelling
In more detail
Limits are set on juice and on products for infants and young children rather than on fermented cider, since fermentation degrades much of the toxin. The control point in practice is fruit sorting, because the toxin is present before pressing and is not removed by it.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Chemistry
Patulin
A mycotoxin produced chiefly by *Penicillium expansum* in rotting apples, regulated in apple juice and apple products because of its toxicity. Sorting out rotten fruit is the principal control.
Orchard
Fruit sorting
Removing rotten, mouldy and foreign material from harvested fruit before milling, by hand on a table or by flotation and mechanical inspection at scale.
Fruit
Brown rot
A fungal rot of apples and pears, chiefly *Monilinia fructigena*, producing an expanding brown lesion with concentric rings of buff spore pustules. Affected fruit is unfit for milling.
Orchard
Windfall
Fruit that has fallen from the tree before deliberate harvest. In cider orchards windfalls are a normal part of the crop; the question is how long they have lain and in what condition.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
European Food Safety Authority scientific opinions
EFSA · regulator · retrieved 2026-08-24
Registered for the food-safety questions cider genuinely raises: patulin in juice from rotten fruit, sulphite sensitivity, and the toxicology behind additive limits.
Codex Alimentarius food standards
FAO / WHO · standards body · retrieved 2026-08-24