A new House bill introduced Wednesday would limit the level of arsenic and lead in kids' juices.
WASHINGTON — If you have ever served your child apple juice, you may have served more arsenic along with it than the federal government allows in bottled water. The “APPLE Juice Act of 2012,” introduced Wednesday by two House Democrats, requires that the Food and Drug Administration set a ceiling for arsenic in the popular children’s drink.
Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., and Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., responded to findings by a Consumer Reports investigation in January that showed “alarmingly high” levels of arsenic and lead in apple and grape juices sold in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Neither Pallone nor DeLauro could cite specific incidents of children getting sick from juice. Ami Gadhia, a lawyer for Consumer Reports, said, “the concern is when these exposures [to carcinogens in juices] pile up.”
“It’s about prevention,” DeLauro added. In short, lawmakers explained that kids are not getting sick yet, but if levels of arsenic and lead remain where they are, heavy juice sippers could suffer effects in the future.
“For whatever reason – I think it’s because kids don’t vote – a lot of times agencies don’t do the right thing for kids,” Pallone said in introducing the “Arsenic Prevention and Protection from Lead Exposure in Juice Act of 2012.”
The study behind the legislation co-sponsored by Pallone and DeLauro resulted from tests of five different brands of juice and 88 samples. The FDA has two years to set a ceiling for arsenic and lead, substances known to affect children’s brain development.
“This is about sounding the alarm of a serious public health danger,” DeLauro said explaining her support, “I’m a grandmother, four grandkids…and every time they come over ‘it’s bubby, can I have some juice.’”
Pallone said he thinks the juice act has a fair shot in Congress because it is straight forward, and he will start going through the motions of finding “some vehicle to attach it to this year.”
