Are You Giving Your Children Poisonous Apple Juice?
By admin on Jun 11, 2010 in Supplement and Vitamin
Most of us do our best to limit the amount of non-nutritional junk sitting around the house, especially those of us with kids.
Instead of sugary sodas, many smart parents will usually reach for a healthier alternative, such as apple juice. Sadly, new findings out of Florida suggest that every time you pour your child a cup of apple juice, you may also be serving them a small dose of poison.
The St. Petersburg Times, in Florida, has just published the results of an investigation they undertook to discover the arsenic levels of popular apple juice brands found in grocery stores.
The newspaper had an independent third-party laboratory carry out the actual tests. Altogether, there were 18 samples of apple juice examined. More than one-fourth of the tested apple juice brands showed arsenic levels ranging between 25 and 35 parts per billion. These are concentrations high enough to warrant the US Food & Drug Administration’s official “level of concern” rating for arsenic.
For the most part, The products tested were the very same ones you see every time you visit the grocery store: Mott’s, Tree Top, Minute Maid, and Nestle’s Juicy Juice brand, as well as Target and Walmart generics.
A number of less well-known names marketed primarily to schools and similar organizations were also sampled. If you think shopping organic keeps you off the hook, unfortunately, this time you’re mistaken. One of the samples taken from Apple & Eve’s Organic Apple Juice contains some of the highest levels of arsenic found in the entire study.
Equally alarming was the whopping range of arsenic found in different bottles of the same brand juice. For example, while one batch of Walmart’s Great Value label juice contained almost undetectable levels of the toxin, another contained more than 25 parts per billion. The same goes for samples taken of Juicy Juice and several others.
Arsenic: No Amount is Considered “Safe”
While the news may come as a shock to much of the general public, many of us in the natural health and science community are not surprised. In fact, we’ve been warning the public about the dangers of arsenic overburden for a number of years.
Arsenic is a naturally occurring metalloid element commonly used in pesticides and herbicides, as well as a wood preservative and in the manufacturing of numerous metal alloys. It’s also one of the most dangerous poisons known to man. While the FDA does have an unacceptable level, I personally believe that no level of arsenic exposure should be considered safe.
Because it is found in nature, a healthy adult human body is able to cope with trace exposure here and there. But as levels of arsenic accumulate in the body, they can have devastating effects. To help ensure your body’s ability to keep heavy metal and metalloid levels in check, I recommend doing a heavy metal cleanse at least once a year.
And of course, keeping a close eye out for potential sources of new toxins is also a key step. They seem to pop up where you would least expect them. You can also use MineralCheck to help determine how many minerals and toxins are currently in your body.
Related Blogposts:
- How Arsenic in Water Affects Your Health
- How To Eliminate Toxins in Drinking Water
- 20 Reasons You Need a Heavy Metal Cleanse
- Study: Indian Spices & Powders Linked to Lead Poisoning
Credits to:Natural Health & Organic Living Blog
jason | Jun 11, 2010 | Reply
Why does organic apple juice contain arsenic? I don’t understand. Do apples naturally contain arsenic? Should we avoid giving apples to our children? Thanks in advance!
Lynn Slovak | Jun 11, 2010 | Reply
Hi Scot, it’s fantastic that you are making your own unpastuerized juice, good for you! However don’t forget to remove the apple seeds before juicing as they naturally contain arsenic as the plant’s own ‘built in pesticide’, a fact that possibly accounts for some of the differences in arsenic contamination in the juices that were tested.
Scot | Jun 11, 2010 | Reply
My wife and I have started making our own juices, especially apple, at home. We live in Maine so have access to the small orchards in our area. We get the apples right off the tree and use our juicer to make pure apple juice. It’s great fun and we can be in control of most of the process. I think that this type of nutrition is going to become more popular as people begin to realize how many chemicals are in the soil and table water.