The nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine is calling for the Food and Drug Administration to put restrictions on the amount of arsenic and lead allowed in juices.
The group, Consumers Union, said in a news release that the current lack of arsenic and lead limits puts children, who tend to drink lots of juice, “at unnecessary risk for serious health problems, including several forms of cancer.”
“We’re concerned about the potential risks of exposure to these toxins especially for children who are particularly vulnerable because of their small body size and the amount of juice they regularly consume,” said Urvashi Rangan, safety director at Consumer Reports.
The call for regulation came after Consumer Reports tested 88 samples of apple juice and grape juice. The magazine found that 10 percent showed arsenic levels above the federal drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion, or ppb. Moreover, 25 percent of the samples had lead levels higher than the federal bottled water limit of 5 ppb.
According to the magazine, most of the arsenic was the type known as inorganic arsenic, a human carcinogen.
Rangan told NBC News that the substances in juices would not have immediate effects but would raise the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer.
The issue drew attention in recent months when a television program, The Dr. Oz Show, reported on private tests showing high arsenic levels in popular brands of apple juice. As Food Safety News reports, the FDA responded in September that small amounts of arsenic are present in certain foods such as apple juice but pose no public health risk.
On Tuesday, an FDA official reaffirmed that position but said the agency is considering setting guidelines on levels of inorganic arsenic, as it indicated in a letter to two watchdog groups. The agency currently considers 23 ppb of inorganic arsenic a “level of concern,” but that is not a mandatory limit. Consumers Union is urging the FDA to restrict total arsenic levels to a far lower 3 ppb, and to limit lead to 5 ppb.
In the meantime, Consumers Union says parents should avoid serving juice to infants under six months; limit consumption of juice among children up to age six to four to six ounces a day; and limit older children to eight to 12 ounces of juice a day.
STUART SILVERSTEIN
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Arsenic is quite a dangerous carcinogen. Surprisingly, chicken has 10 times more arsenic than apple juice. Check out this non commercial, science based website that goes into detail.
http://nutritionfacts.org/blog/2011/09/19/dr-oz-apple-juice-and-arsenic-chicken-may-have-10-times-more/