Do you or anyone in your family consume apple juice?
The Food and Drug Administration has recently sent a warning letter to a large-scale juice processor in Sunnyside, Washington after the agency found high levels of inorganic arsenic in samples of apple juice concentrate. The FDA told Valley Processing that inspectors had found “serious violations” during inspections conducted from December 7, 2015 through January 29, 2016. The FDA also criticized the company for storing apples in outdoor bins which could allow mold to grow.
On its website, Valley Processing claims to be “one of the largest privately held wholesale juice manufacturing plants in the nation.” It operates in the Yakima Valley, which it represents to be the “fruit capital of the world.”
“Inorganic arsenic is a toxic substance and prolonged exposure to high levels of inorganic arsenic is associated with cancer, skin lesions, developmental effects, cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity, and diabetes in humans,” the agency wrote to the juice processor. According to Dr. Luke LaBorde, a Food Safety professor at Penn State University, “[i]norganic arsenic is usually associated with historical use of pesticides many years ago.” It does not degrade with time and if a processor is using an older orchard, the pesticide could stay in the soil.
Dr. LaBorde also believes that children are more susceptible to the harmful effects brought on by exposure to arsenic.
The FDA’s warning letter comes on the heels of increased attention toward arsenic. The agency lowered the arsenic limit for apple juice in 2013 to 10 parts per billion, which is the same level set by the Environmental Protection Agency for arsenic in drinking water. A sample of the apple juice from Valley Processing tested by the FDA showed arsenic levels nearly nine time the limit.
