Consumer Group Warns of High Arsenic Levels in Fruit Juice

High arsenic levels in a number of fruit juices have sparked concern about the safety of many best-selling children’s beverages. According to Consumer Reports, arsenic in some juice samples vastly exceeded legal limits in place for drinking water. Exposure to arsenic can lead to nausea, vomiting, discoloration of the skin, and even death.

Free Arsenic Poisoning Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with arsenic poisoning after consuming fruit juices, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a suit against the manufacturer of the fruit juice and we can help.

What’s the problem?

December 1, 2011 – In a scathing reported published Wednesday, product-testing organization Consumer Reports investigated 88 popular childhood drinks and found that five samples of apple juice and four samples of grape juice had arsenic levels exceeding legally-allowable limits set for drinking water. Name brands surpassing the 10 parts per billion threshold included Apple & Eve, Great Value, Mott’s, Walgreens and Welch’s.

Because fruit juice drinks are a staple of many children’s diets, Consumer Reports said they could be especially vulnerable to the side effects of arsenic poisoning, including a number of different types of cancer.

The samples analyzed by the study came from 28 apple and three grape juice products, and included ready-to-drink bottles, juice boxes, and cans of concentrate from various retail establishments in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Additionally, Consumer Reports found that approximately 25% of all fruit juice samples contained led levels at or above the legal limit for bottled water.

Legal limits for arsenic in water are set by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), but juices and other foods are not currently regulated. Consumer Reports believes the study’s findings should be enough to prompt the government to establish criteria for arsenic levels for juice.

Arsenic is a naturally-occurring substance found in water, air, food and soil. Breathing in high levels of arsenic can irritate the throat and lungs, and can lead to nausea, vomiting, and discoloration of the skin. Ingesting high levels of the substance can lead to death.

In a statement released by the FDA, the administration said that it has been monitoring fruit juice levels for years, and that it was confident in the overall safety of the beverages. However, it did admit that a small percentage of samples have registered elevated levels of arsenic. The agency stated that it was stepping up efforts to monitor the products to determine if levels can be established that would reduce consumer exposure to arsenic in fruit juices.

Do You Have an Arsenic Poisoning Lawsuit?

The Product Liability & Defective Drug Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in arsenic poisoning lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new arsenic poisoning cases in all 50 states.

Free Arsenic Poisoning Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with arsenic poisoning after consuming fruit juice, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing an arsenic poisoning suit and we can help.