With all the things on your mind, the last thing you need to worry about is whether the apple juice you finally convinced your kid to drink has arsenic in it. But an independent lab test of several different brands of apple juice, sponsored by Food & Water Watch and Empire State Consumer Project found a sample of Mott’s Apple Juice contained 55 parts per billion of arsenic, exceeding the EPA tolerance level of 10 parts per billion. The FDA does not have a set tolerance level for juice.

The other samples had lower amounts of arsenic.

The results exceeded the findings of the St. Petersburg Times who ran a similar test last year. In that investigative report, the highest amounts were 35 parts per billion.

The group called on the FDA to take action on the contamination of apple juice with heavy metals. “This is not the first time high levels of arsenic have been found in apple juice,” said Judy Braiman, Executive Director of the Empire State Consumer Project in a press release. “It is past time for the FDA to set a limit on a toxic substance like arsenic with long term health effects in the juice that kids drink.”

Here’s the full lab report (PDF).

Testing Finds Arsenic in Apple Juice [Food and Water Watch]
Arsenic in apple juice: How much is too much? [St. Petersburg Times]

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