Dr. Oz ruffled some feathers this week when he released the results of his independent study into the level of arsenic found in apple juice for sale in the US.

Although kids love and drink a lot of apple juice, such consumption is not its only use. Apple juice is often added to cakes an other sweet snacks, as well as cereals and other processed foods as a sweetener instead of sugar.

While the US EPA regulates the amount of arsenic in our drinking water (it should not exceed 10 parts per billion), the US FDA does not regulate the amount of arsenic in fruit juices. Arsenic is a potent poison and even smaller concentrations (as much as 150 parts per billion) are suspected of causing of cancer. Further, arsenic poisoning through pesticide use and ground water is a significant problem in many countries, some of which may be selling to US apple juice producers apples grown under such conditions.

The results of Dr. Oz’s research are below and and a link to his site is here.

Minute Maid Apple Juice
Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 2 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 3 parts per billion

Apple and Eve Apple Juice
Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 3 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 11 parts per billion

Mott’s
Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 4 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 16 parts per billion

Juicy Juice
Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 2 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 22 parts per billion

Gerber
Lowest Sample for Arsenic: 3 parts per billion
Highest Sample for Arsenic: 36 parts per billion

Note how most of them exceed the 10 parts per billion allowed in our drinking water…