Poisonous Juices Demand Better FDA Control

Grape and apple juices are great for our health, wright? Well, wrong!

Consumer Reports conducted an investigation on arsenic levels which showed that ten percent of their samples exceeded 10 parts per billion (ppb) — the federal arsenic limit for bottled water.

There were tested 88 samples from 28 apple and three grape juices from various lots numbers that were packaged in various ways, such as ready-to-drink bottles, concentrate and juice boxes.
Previous research has shown that chronic exposure to arsenic and lead, even below the levels allowed for bottled water, can result in serious health problems. Now, the question is why The Food and Drug Administration has not announced a threshold levels for these elements in juices, as it did for water. After all, children of ages five and younger drink juice in quantities exceeding recommendations.

“People often ask me why more people do not die from arsenic, if the exposure is so harmful. I try to explain that in most cases even at the relatively low levels of exposure many diseases are likely to be increased because no one had thought to link these two things” says Ph.D. toxicologist, Joshua Hamilton .

Consumers Union requested from the FDA to set a standard for total arsenic and lead in apple and grape juice. In numbers, the standard should be three ppb for arsenic and five ppb for lead, which is set as standard for the bottled water.

Filed Under: Health & Fitness