Urge the FDA to Set Limits on Arsenic in Fruit Juice
- par: Jaelithe Judy
- destinataire: FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates safe drinking water, mandates that arsenic in drinking water must be kept below 10 parts per billion. Yet the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food safety, has no such requirement for the fruit juice that millions of American children drink each day. Recent studies have found alarming levels of arsenic in fruit juice, well above safe drinking water limits.
Urge the FDA to regulate arsenic in fruit juice!
Recent studies from the St. Petersburg Times, the Empire State Consumer Project and Consumer Reports have shown that certain brands of fruit juice marketed to children in the United States may contain levels of toxic inorganic arsenic well above the level established by the Environmental Protection Agency as safe for drinking water.
The EPA limits arsenic in drinking water to 10 parts per billion. Yet the FDA has no similar standard for fruit juice -- and many American children drink a serving or more of fruit juice every day.
Chronic arsenic exposure has been linked to developmental delays, heart disease and cancer. Please protect America's children from unnecessary exposure to this known poison. We call on the FDA to establish an official safety limit for arsenic in fruit juice of 10 ppb or lower, and regularly test juice samples for compliance with this limit.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
