Now we have another reason to feed kids less juice. Consumer Reports found concerning levels of lead, arsenic, and cadmium in many of the brands on supermarket shelves, according to a new report. Some of those were at levels high enough to cause harm to kids who drink just a half cup per day.
“Our findings are a spot check of the market and cannot be used to draw definitive conclusions about brands,” Consumer Reports says. That’s because a small sample (three of each juice) doesn’t tell you whether one brand is always higher in metals than another. Unfortunately CR muddies their message by describing some brands as “better alternatives” than others, which their research and their own statement does not support. Bottom line, switching brands based on these results won’t necessarily protect you.
Metals like these can get into fruit from soil, or from other sources like water that is used in growing them. Juice is more concentrated than the fruit itself—it’s easier to suck down a couple apples’ worth of juice than to eat a couple apples—so it’s of particular concern.
Consumer reports is calling for the FDA to finally enforce their proposed limit for arsenic in apple juice, as well as to lower the limit and to apply it to other juices besides apple. The FDA has a limit for lead in juice, 50 parts per billion, but only 10 ppb are allowed in bottled water and the American Academy of Pediatrics says lead in school drinking fountains should be 1 ppb or lower. There is no limit for cadmium in juice, and perhaps there should be.
In the meantime, all we can do is drink less juice. That’s a good idea anyway, since juice is high in sugar and shouldn’t be a major part of anyone’s diet. Adults and kids alike can sate juice cravings with a nice juicy piece of actual fruit.