Reducing Arsenic In Apple Juice
(Washington, D.C.) After years or requests by parents and those concerned with food additives, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now limiting the amount of arsenic apple juice can contain for the first time.
The FDA plans to limit the amount of inorganic arsenic to 10 parts per billion, the same amount the Environmental Protection Agency allows in drinking water.
The move comes two years after an episode of “The Dr. Oz Show” raised public concern about the amount of arsenic in children’s apple juice.
The show tested three dozen samples of five brands of juice and found some contained arsenic levels between 11 and 36 parts per billion.
Shortly after, Consumer Reports released a study that analyzed 88 samples of apple and grape juice.
The researchers found about 10% of the samples had arsenic levels higher than 10 parts per billion.
There are two types of arsenic: inorganic and organic. Inorganic arsenic has been classified as a human carcinogen by the EPA. The FDA describes organic, or naturally-occurring arsenic as “essentially harmless.”