Bad news for wine lovers, too much arsenic found in popular low-cost brands


Popular brands of wine, including Sutter Home and Charles Shaw, are coming under fire and a potential class action lawsuit because of the amount of arsenic in their bottles.

A complaint was filed this week in the Los Angeles Superior court that claims 28 wineries are violating California law by making, marketing and selling wines that have, in the lawyers' words, "extremely elevated" levels of inorganic arsenic, which is poisonous, KCAL reported.

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Four plaintiffs said some vineyards make wine that has, according to the KCAL report, "up to 500 percent or more than what is considered the maximum acceptable safe daily intake limit."

BeverageGrades, a lab that analyzes wine, tested more than 1,300 bottles of wine, including Trader Joe's Two-Buck Chuck White Zinfandel and Franzia White Grenache, and found levels higher than the 10 parts per billion of arsenic that's legally allowed, CBS News reported.

The wines named specifically in the suit mostly are low-end white or blush wines that cost less than $10 a bottle, PIX 11 reported.

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