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Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, last year called for a limit as low as 3 parts per billion. While the FDA didn't go that far, the group still praised the agency for taking action.
"While we had proposed a lower limit, we think this is a perfectly good first step to bring apple juice in line with the current drinking water limits," said Urvashi Rangan, the group's director for consumer safety.
While the Environmental Protection Agency sets arsenic limits for drinking water, there have never been similar standards for most foods and beverages. The FDA is also considering new limits on arsenic in rice, which is thought to have higher levels than most foods because it is grown in water on the ground, optimal conditions for absorbing the contaminant.
"We don't have standards like this in most foods, so it's an important precedent," Rangan said.
Environmental groups like Food and Water Watch have also lobbied the FDA on the issue. And television's Dr. Mehmet Oz made arsenic a national issue in 2011 when he raised an alarm -- some say a false alarm -- over apple juice, based on tests his show commissioned by a private lab.
All of the experts -- including the government and the consumer advocates -- agree that drinking small amounts of apple juice isn't harmful. The concern involves the effects of drinking large amounts of juice over long periods of time.
Another point of agreement is that children under 6 shouldn't be drinking much juice anyway, because it's high in calories. Health experts say children under 6 shouldn't drink any more than 6 ounces of juice a day -- about the size of a juice box. Infants under 6 months shouldn't drink any juice at all.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said Friday children should be encouraged to eat whole fruit adding, "it is not necessary to offer children any juice to have a well-balanced, healthy diet."
[Associated
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