Arsenic Found in Packaged Apple Juice

While apple juice is touted as the healthiest way of starting your day, it may turn out to be harmful for your health after a Consumer Reports study found that grocery store-purchased apple juice contained high levels of arsenic. Though store purchased juice had always contained low levels of arsenic, and the US Food and Drug Administration considers it to be safe to drink, the new report has revealed that the health agency is allowing too much harmful chemicals to enter into kids’ juices.

The Consumer Reports study, published by Consumers Union, took Environmental Protection Agency's standard for bottled drinking water of 10 ppb as the benchmark and found that nine of the 88 apple juice samples that it tested were well above EPA limits but within FDA standards of 23 ppb.

Consumers Union revealed that it has already held talks with FDA regarding the issue and the health agency is said to be seriously considering lowering its maximum limit for arsenic. “We look at apple and grape juice as a poster child for arsenic in the food supply in general. Chronic low-level exposure of carcinogen is something we should be concerned about”, Consumers Union’s Urvashi Rangan said.

Source-Medindia