Recently television host Dr. Oz created quite a stir when he made claims that apple juice contains dangerous levels of arsenic. Initially the FDA bashed the doctor’s claims calling them irresponsible, however, after a recent independent study released by Consumer Reports the FDA might be changing its tune.

According to Consumer Reports’ study they:

“…tested 88 samples of the juices from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and found that 10% had more arsenic than the FDA allows in drinking water, and 25% had more lead than the agency allows in bottled water.”
The report also claims that the FDA currently has no set limits for arsenic in fruit juices, though 23 parts per billion (ppb) is considered a “level of concern.” In response to the new findings the FDA is considering lowering the amount of arsenic that would be considered a “level of concern,” and claims the government allows more arsenic in juice than in drinking water because it’s assumed that people are drinking more water.

Molly Kile, a professor at Oregon State University who has studied arsenic brought up a very important question stating “It is unclear at this point whether or not the arsenic found in apple juice is safe or unsafe … And really the question is what do these low level exposures of arsenic mean in terms of health and children’s health?” Definitely a question on the minds of all parents.

In the mean time, until the FDA conducts research of its own, health experts are encouraging parents to not give their children anymore than six ounces of juice a day period and as an added caution suggesting they can rotate the brands they buy in case one of them has too much arsenic.

Will you still give your children apple juice?