Watch Out! Harmful Arsenic and Lead Found in Juice

Pediatricians recommend against giving too much juice to babies and toddlers (mostly because of all the sugar), but most of us moms still find ourselves handing a sippy of juice to our kids from time to time. Turns out, juice might be worse than we thought.

Consumer Reports just released the results of a study on 28 different kinds of apple juice and three different kinds of grape juice, available for sale in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The researchers tested the juices for arsenic, which you probably think of as poison -- it's a contaminant known to increase cancer risk -- and lead, which you definitely know is poisonous. Nine of the juice samples (they tested juice from two to three different lots for each brand of juice) had total arsenic levels over 10 parts per billion (ppb) -- the limit that drinking water must fall under according to federal law. And about a fourth of the juices had lead levels at or about 5 ppb, the limit for bottled water.

Okay, so here's the super scary part: Arsenic exposure, over time, could increase a person's risk of certain canders, high blood pressure, diabetes and fertility problems.

So whose juice had dangerous levels? According to Consumer Reports’ article, Apple & Eve, Great Value (Walmart) and Mott’s apple juices had at least one sample that tested above 10 ppb for arsenic, and Walgreen’s and Welch’s grape juices had at least one sample that tested that high. Brands of grape juice that tested high in lead included America’s Choice (A&P), Gerber, Gold Emblem (CVS), Great Value, Joe’s Kids (Trader Joe’s), Minute Maid, Seneca and Walgreen’s. And Gold Emblem, Walgreen’s and Welch’s grape juices were also high in lead. But researchers can’t guarantee that arsenic and lead levels are the same for these brands across the boards, since the levels sometimes varied widely in different samples of the same brand’s juice. Check out more about the test results here.

So what do you think -- are you worried about the arsenic and lead levels in your kids’ juice? Will you buy it less often?

-- Elena Donovan Mauer

See More: Mommy Life , Safety , Toddler Basics , Solid Foods