Arsenic in Apple Juice

You may have heard recently that some apple juice brands in the U.S. contain arsenic. Yesterday, I watched a segment on the Dr. Oz Show about this issue. The FDA does not currently have a safe level of arsenic set for apple juice. Some testing is revealing levels much higher than the the safety level set for drinking water.

So how is arsenic getting in the apple juice? Some American companies purchase apple juice concentrate from China, Argentina and Brazil. In these countries, pesticides containing arsenic are used. To avoid the chance that arsenic is in your children's juice, you need to buy organic or read the labels carefully and only buy juice made from apples grown in the U.S. It can be hard to find the country of origin on labels. In one spot the labeling may say it is an American product, and in another spot it may say that the apple juice concentrate used was made in China. At the grocery store this morning, I found a bottle of apple juice that said the country of origin was printed on the bottle neck, but the information was not there.

It is also important to realize that apple juice concentrate is not only used in juice. It can also be found as a sweetening agent in other products. In these products, there is no way to know where the juice concentrate comes from. We need to press the FDA to change its policies. Until then, I will only buy organic apple juice. I encourage you to Google this issue and/or read the links below and make your own informed decision.

Testing Finds Arsenic in Apple Juice - from Food and Water Watch

Dr. Oz Investigates: Arsenic in Apple Juice