Does The FDA Allow Arsenic in Apple Juice?

TV personality Dr. Oz first reported on his show that "some of the best-known brands of apple juice contain arsenic."

New studies have confirmed arsenic is indeed in many popular apple juices.

Consumer Reports tested eighty-eight samples of popular brands of grape and apple juice sold in the U.S., including Welch's, Minute Maid and Mott's.

The results revealed that ten percent of the juices "had total arsenic levels greater than the FDA's standard for drinking water of ten parts per billion (ppb), while twenty-five percent of juices also had lead levels higher than the FDA's bottled water limit of five ppb."

In addition, data on arsenic in adult urine from the Centers for Disease Control showed that men and women who drank apple or grape juice in a twenty-four hour period had, "on average, about twenty percent higher levels of total urinary arsenic than those subjects who did not."

Consumer Reports went on to say that the arsenic tested and detected is inorganic and a human carcinogen. 

It explained "mounting scientific evidence suggesting that chronic exposure to arsenic and lead even at levels below federal standards for water can result in serious health problems, especially for those who are exposed in the womb or during early childhood."

Arsenic is naturally present in water, air, food and soil in the two forms - organic and inorganic.

According to the FDA, organic arsenic passes through the body quickly and is essentially harmless. Inorganic arsenic - the type found in pesticides - can be toxic and may pose a cancer risk if consumed at high levels or over a long period.

So what I think we should do as a safety precaution, is to buy only organic apple juice and organic white grape juice. 

It's the inorganic arsenic, like what is found in pesticides - that is dangerous to our health and the health of our children.