From Detroit Bureau Chief Ed Garsten

ST. JOHNS, Michigan (CNN) -- A pilgrimage to the cider mill for a jug of sweet amber apple drink seems like a rite of fall. But wouldn't you know it, something as benign as apple cider can make you sick.

"There is a small risk these products may have a small amount of bacterial contamination that can be potentially harmful," said food expert Lee Bourquin.

One solution is pasteurization which heats apple cider up to 160 degrees to kill the germs.

That's what Lee Posley does at Yates Cider Mill in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

"It can withstand the acid environment that the cider has and it doesn't take many cells to cause a person to get sick," he said.

But at Uncle John's Cider Mill about 100 miles away, pasteurization is a dirty word. It's cider goes directly from the apple to the jug.

"One, we want to maintain our high level of quality," says Uncle John's Mike Beck. "Two, I'm not fond of how it looks in the jug sometimes."

While Posley's pasteurized cider is clearly marked on the bottle cap, Beck's is not -- although it does carry a state-mandated warning that the product should be refrigerated.

Now the federal government is calling on all juice producers to voluntarily place warning labels on unpasteurized products.

The government decided to call for warning labels after a child died from drinking unpasteurized apple juice that was infected with the E. coli bacteria.

Michigan Agriculture Commissioner Dan Wyant says warning labels on unpasteurized cider are a good idea, but the state is taking steps to make sure all cider is safe.

"We have enforcement capabilities to shut an operation down immediately and we'll do that if we find a pathogen problem," he said.

The best advice is to keep unpasteurized cider refrigerated at all times.