Digital News Report – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a statement in regards to yesterday’s ‘The Dr. Oz Show’ which discussed the possible dangers of high levels of arsenic found in apple juice. FDA officials said today that the kind of arsenic is organic and is safe to consume.
Donald Zink, Ph.D, senior science advisor at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), said that arsenic is found naturally in the environment, and by human contamination with inorganic forms of the chemical. The FDA has been testing these fruit juices for years. He said there is no evidence of any health dangers from consuming these products. Zink said that the organic arsenic is basically undisruptive, however the inorganic type can be a health risk when consumed at high amounts over the long haul.
The FDA continued to say that some food and beverages would have small amounts of arsenic in them, including fruit juice products.
Because of the increased importing of fruit juices from foreign countries, the FDA has been studying arsenic levels in these products for the past six years explained Henry Kim, Ph.D., a supervisory chemist at CFSAN.
The FDA said that they are on the lookout for contaminated fruit juice products. The FDA said that importers of potentially dangerous products must prove that their fruit juices and concentrates are safe for human consumption even before it is allowed into the country. The FDA has a Total Diet Study program that tests baby foods and apple juice samples every year for the presence of arsenic in the food. Lastly, the FDA government agency has investigators that test apple juice as well as other food and beverage products for harmful substances.
By: Jason Chang