Toxic Levels of Arsenic Found in Popular Juice Brands

[brassmonkey]

Drink up!


Arsenic has long been recognized as a poison and a contaminant in drinking water, but now concerns are growing about arsenic in foods, especially in fruit juices that are a mainstay for children.

Controversy over arsenic in apple juice made headlines as the school year began when Mehmet Oz, M.D., host of ?The Dr. Oz Show,? told viewers that tests he?d commissioned found 10 of three dozen apple-juice samples with total arsenic levels exceeding 10 parts per billion (ppb). There?s no federal arsenic threshold for juice or most foods, though the limit for bottled and public water is 10 ppb. The Food and Drug Administration, trying to reassure consumers about the safety of apple juice, claimed that most arsenic in juices and other foods is of the organic type that is ?essentially harmless.?

But an investigation by Consumer Reports shows otherwise. Our study, including tests of apple and grape juice, a scientific analysis of federal health data, a consumer poll, and interviews with doctors and other experts, finds the following:

Roughly 10 percent of our juice samples, from five brands, had total arsenic levels that exceeded federal drinking-water standards. Most of that arsenic was inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen.
One in four samples had lead levels higher than the FDA?s bottled-water limit of 5 ppb. As with arsenic, no federal limit exists for lead in juice.
Apple and grape juice constitute a significant source of dietary exposure to arsenic, according to our analysis of federal health data from 2003 through 2008.
Children drink a lot of juice. Thirty-five percent of children 5 and younger drink juice in quantities exceeding pediatricians? recommendations, our poll of parents shows.
Mounting scientific evidence suggests that chronic exposure to arsenic and lead even at levels below water standards can result in serious health problems.
Inorganic arsenic has been detected at disturbing levels in other foods, too, which suggests that more must be done to reduce overall dietary exposure.

Tainted brands include Minute Maid, Mott's, Gerber, Welch's, and Great Value (Walmart) among others. See results from tests on other apple and grape juice brands.

Our findings have prompted Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, to urge the FDA to set arsenic and lead standards for apple and grape juice. Our scientists believe that juice should at least meet the 5 ppb lead limit for bottled water. They recommend an even lower arsenic limit for juice: 3 ppb.

?People sometimes say, ?If arsenic exposure is so bad, why don?t you see more people sick or dying from it?? But the many diseases likely to be increased by exposure even at relatively low levels are so common already that its effects are overlooked simply because no one has looked carefully for the connection,? says Joshua Hamilton, Ph.D., a toxicologist specializing in arsenic research and the chief academic and scientific officer at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.

As our investigation found, when scientists and doctors do look, the connections they?ve found underscore the need to protect public health by reducing Americans? exposure to this potent toxin.

full article...

[wehateporn]

Interesting, thanks for this

On another note, Dr Oz is the guy who tells us to vaccinate our kids while not vaccinating his ?I?ll tell you, my wife is not going to immunize our kids because I?ve got four of them and when I go home I?m not Dr. Oz I?m Mr. Oz.? ? Dr. Mehmet OZ.

To be fair though, he must be under incredible pressure from Big Pharma to pump their message out; if he told the truth there would be a witch-hunt and he'd be straight out of his job

[Elli]

Ok, I seem to remember my grandpa telling me that there's a small amount of arsenic in apple seeds,and if you eat them with the apple over a long time, it actually is good for your heart. Is this what we're seeing? Crushed apple seeds?

[Cam94]

apple seeds have b17 google that and youll know the cure for cancer

[Spunky]

Apple Seeds and Cherry Pits are Poisonous
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2007/09...-poisonous.htm

[Mr Pheer]

Thats an extremely small amount, absolutely not toxic like the monkey posted in his title, and fruit juice should not be held to the same standard as water, due to the fact that its fruit juice and not fucking water.

[Zoxxa]

Originally Posted by Mr Pheer

Thats an extremely small amount, absolutely not toxic like the monkey posted in his title, and fruit juice should not be held to the same standard as water, due to the fact that its fruit juice and not fucking water.

You need to fucking calm down because you are making too much fucking sense. Thats not how things are done in AMERRRRRRRRICA.....

[Zoxxa]

fek yeaaaaaaa

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by Zoxxa

You need to fucking calm down because you are making too much fucking sense. Thats not how things are done in AMERRRRRRRRICA.....

[PornoMonster]

This has been found to be a SPIN on the facts. Either they Overlooked, not smart, or decided to make a big stink out of something to scare people.

There are 2 forms of Arsenic, Dr OZ only tested for the OVERALL amount in the juices. The Bad kind is well under FDA levels, the natural occuring kind found in Fresh squeezed Apple Juice combined with the bad, is what put the level over the top if looking on the scale of the bad kind.
What he did bring to light is the bad kind in getting in there from the treated wood from the storage barrels or something like that.
Dr OZ, said he would KEEP GIVING his kids this Juice!

[TCLGirls]

Consumer Reports > juice industry talking points

[V_RocKs]

Stick to Tropicana and Natures Own.

[Captain Kawaii]

Any connection with the timing of this news to China's continued support of trading partners Syria and Iran?

US companies will get banged on short end, they'll deal with fallout, but China, the major source of most of US juices, especially, apple, is going to have a problem...