Apple Juice Arsenic Different Form than OTHER Arsenic

Girl drinking apple juice,.. with arsenic in it?

A couple months ago, I wrote a story on arsenic in apple juice. The gist of it was that the FDA doesn’t regulate arsenic in apple juice and should because:

While the EPA limits arsenic in our drinking water to 10 parts per billion, recent tests have found the amount of arsenic in apple juice (Mott’s Apple Juice, in particular) to be 55 parts per billion — 5.5 times more than what the EPA will let us drink!

Trust the FDA or not, it has delivered a response after the host of the nationally-syndicated “Dr. Oz Show” gave the topic a little more attention. The FDA’s response is that we blew the story and issue out of proportion, since the arsenic we are all concerned about is not the same arsenic as is found in apple juice.

Confused? Here’s more from the United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog:

After the TV show was broadcast, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refuted the show’s report, calling it “irresponsible.” The FDA also stated that, “drinking all brands of apple juice is safe.”

Stephanie Yao, an FDA spokeswomen, stated that “arsenic is both a naturally occurring and inorganic heavy metal, and some levels of it are found in the air we breathe, water we drink and in the ground. It is known to cause cancer and kidney problems. But while high levels of inorganic arsenic can be fatal, the organic form is essentially harmless.” Yao further stated that, “the ‘Dr. Oz Show’ only tested for the total amount, while the FDA tests for levels of both organic and inorganic.”

Hmm, that little prefix “in” seems to be pretty important. Sorry for the original piece — I obviously wasn’t aware of this part of the story at the time. But feel free to update us with more information on this matter if you have it and we are still missing a critical point or two.

Image Credit:  Some rights reserved by Luiza