What parents can do:
Limit children’s juice consumption. Nutrition guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that infants younger than 6 months shouldn’t drink juice; children up to 6 years old should consume no more than four to six ounces a day and older children, no more than eight to 12 ounces a day. Diluting juice with distilled or purified water can help meet those goals.
If you’re concerned, get tested. Ask your doctor for a urine test for you or your child to determine arsenic levels.
About the study
Consumer Reports tested 28 apple juices and three grape juices from ready-to-drink bottles and juice boxes and cans of concentrate purchased in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York in August and September 2011. Multiple lot numbers were purchased when possible, and in total, 88 samples were tested, magazine officials said. It found:
Brands that had at least one sample of apple juice that exceeded 10 parts per billion were Apple & Eve, Great Value (Walmart) and Mott’s. For grape juices, at least one sample from Walgreens and Welch’s exceeded that threshold.
Brands that had one or more samples of apple juice that exceeded 5 ppb of lead included America’s Choice (A&P), Gerber, Gold Emblem (CVS), Great Value, Joe’s Kids (Trader Joe’s), Minute Maid, Seneca and Walgreens. At least one sample of grape juice exceeding 5 ppb of lead came from Gold Emblem, Walgreens, and Welch’s.
Source: www.consumerreports.org
Health officials with Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County are encouraging parents to talk with their pediatricians in the wake of a Consumer Reports investigation released Wednesday that found arsenic and lead levels that exceeded federal drinking-water or bottled-water standards in five brands of apple and grape juice.
Consumer Reports’ advocacy arm is urging federal officials to establish a standard for arsenic in apple and grape juice after the magazine found the elevated arsenic levels as well as lead levels higher than those recommended for drinking and bottled water.
“While federal standards exist for arsenic and lead levels allowed in bottled and drinking water, there are no limits defined for fruit juices, a mainstay of many children’s diets, putting them at unnecessary risk for serious health problems, including several forms of cancer,” magazine officials said.
The findings
Five samples of apple juice and four of grape juice had total arsenic levels exceeding the 10 parts per billion (ppb) federal limit for bottled and drinking water, Consumer Reports said. Levels in the apple juices ranged from 1.1 to 13.9 ppb, and grape-juice levels were even higher, 5.9 to 24.7 ppb, the magazine reported.
Most of the arsenic detected in Consumer Reports’ tests was inorganic —a type that comes from insecticides that once were sprayed on orchards and farm fields and that was formerly used in treated lumber, magazine officials said.
The inorganic type of arsenic is the most worrisome to health officials because it is known to be a carcinogen that can cause bladder, lung, and skin cancer in people, Consumer Reports officials said.
Mark Case, director of environmental health for Public Health — Dayton and Montgomery County, said both arsenic and lead are serious public health problems, made more complicated by the fact that both substances naturally occur in some forms in the environment.
Juice guidelines
The magazine’s test results don’t mean parents should immediately stop serving juice to their children, but they should consult their pediatrician about the practice, Case said.
Some parents use juice as a substitute for water, which adds calories and can contribute to obesity, he said.
Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, urged federal officials to set a standard for total arsenic in apple and grape juice at 3 ppb, and for lead, juice should at least meet the bottled-water standard of 5 ppb.
“Such standards would better protect children, who are most vulnerable to the effects of arsenic and lead,” the magazine’s story said. “And they’re achievable levels.”
Bill Dodd of Newcomerstown, director of the Ohio Apples Marketing Program and president of the Ohio Fruit Growers Marketing Association, said most of the apples grown in Ohio are pressed locally and used for cider rather than made into juice for national-brand products. Ohio’s apple growers “support responsible decisions based on scientific research by the Food and Drug Administration to help insure the safety and health of apple products and to maintain consumer confidence in them,” Dodd said.
The complete report is included in the January 2012 issue of Consumer Reports magazine and is online at www.consumerreports.org.
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