How does apple juice or apple cider relate to apple cider vinegar?

Apple cider and apple juice have been highly controversial foods in the public media over the last 5 years due to potential problems involving unpasteurized apple cider. Although your question doesn’t specifically ask about this controversy, some of the issues here are helpful when comparing these two foods.

In the middle and late 1990’s, several outbreaks of E.coli O157:H7 poisoning showed that this potentially deadly bacterium could survive in the fairly acidic environment of apple cider. Apple cider was regarded by some manufacturers as being safer than apple juice in terms of bacterial contamination due to its generally more acidic nature. Since that time, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that certain types of juice-processing facilities must follow HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) principles that include pasteurization of apple juice to kill unwanted bacteria. This ruling by the FDA was driven by concerns over unpasteurized apple cider. Most apple juice and apple cider-producing facilities are now bound by these HACCP regulations, but not all. (It is still possible to purchase unpasteurized apple cider in the marketplace, but all unpasteurized apple cider must now include a warning label that indicates the possible health risks involved with its consumption). Apple cider is usually made from apples that are picked early, have lower sugar content, and a higher acid content, giving apple cider a more tart or sour flavor than apple juice. The E.coli O157:H7 outbreaks and new labeling law demonstrate that this higher acid content of apple cider does not necessarily make it a safer form of apple juice.

Over the last fifty years, the term “cider” has changed in its usage. In the past, “cider” was often used to refer to an alcoholic beverage made from crushed and fermented apples. In the United States, the term “cider” is seldom used in this context anymore. The term “hard cider” is now used to refer to apple juice that has been fermented into an alcohol-containing combination.

Apple cider vinegar is vinegar made from apples. Apple cider vinegar is a good vinegar option if it has been made from organically grown apples. The conversion of apples into apple cider vinegar is basically a two-step process. During the first step, microorganisms (typically yeasts) are used to convert the apple juice sugars into alcohols. During the second step, additional microorganisms (like Acetobacter bacteria) are used to convert the alcohols into acetic acid. The apple cider vinegar that results has a very concentrated amount of acetic acid. Small (and nutritionally insignificant) trace amounts of minerals (in most cases less than one milligram) will remain in a tablespoon’s worth of apple cider vinegar following this production process. (Potassium is a slight exception, because you may be able to get about 10-15 milligrams of potassium from one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Still, this amount is less than one percent of the recommended intake level for this mineral).