FDA Reconsidering Arsenic Limits in Apple Juice

The AP (11/30, Jalonick) reported that the Food and Drug Administration “is considering tightening restrictions for the levels of arsenic allowed in apple juice after consumer groups pushed the agency to crack down on the contaminant.” On Wednesday, FDA deputy commissioner for foods Michael Taylor said the agency has already begun increased testing and research on arsenic in apple and other juices, and is seriously weighing lowering the amount of arsenic allowed. A Consumer Reports study released Wednesday found that nine of 88 samples of apple juice from grocery stores exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s 10 parts per billion standard for drinking water. Consumer groups argue that FDA’s current “level of concern” standard for arsenic in apple juice of 23 parts per billion “is too high and isn’t enforced with enough urgency.” The Consumers Report study calls for reducing the levels to as low as 3 parts per billion.

Reuters (11/30, Keiper) added that the report’s findings were put online and will be featured in the January 2012 issue of Consumer Reports magazine

Janice D’Arcy wrote in a Washington Post (11/30) blog posting, “Given that arsenic can be organic and harmless, or inorganic and dangerous, perhaps the most troubling finding is that most of the arsenic found in the juice was inorganic.” She noted that Consumer Reports’ parent, Consumers Union, “is suggesting that parents restrict juice consumption to children up to 6 years old to no more than six ounces per day. For older children, it recommends no more than eight to 12 ounces a day.”

HealthDay (11/30, Gardner) reported that inorganic arsenic is “known to cause bladder, lung and skin cancer. It can also up the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and some reports have stated that arsenic exposure can affect brain development in children.”

Jeannine Stein wrote in a Los Angeles Times (11/30) blog posting that the Consumer Reports study “comes just months after television host Dr. Mehmet Oz proclaimed results from his own investigation showed that arsenic levels in apple juice were unhealthful. The Food and Drug Administration claimed Oz’s statistics were faulty and said juice was safe to drink. Apple juice contains a certain amount of organic arsenic, and what Oz found, they said, represented the total amount of arsenic and wasn’t an accurate reading.” It adds that, in light of the Consumer Report study, “Oz may feel vindicated.”

-Via American Association for Justice News Brief

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