Federal Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Limit Arsenic, Lead in Fruit Juice

U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) have proposed legislation (H.R. 3984) that would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish standards for arsenic and lead in fruit juices within two years. Titled the “Arsenic Prevention and Protection from Lead Exposure in Juice Act of 2012,” or the “APPLE Juice Act of 2012,” the proposal is designed to “protect children from harmful health effects of significant juice consumption,” the lawmakers said in a joint press release.

Calling for lead and arsenic to be as strictly regulated in juice as they are in
bottled water, the lawmakers said the bill came in response to a Consumer
Reports investigation revealing “alarmingly high levels” of the toxins in apple
and grape juice in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. “We must ensure
that the juices our children drink are safe, particularly when 70 percent of the
apple juice we consume comes from China,” DeLauro said.

In November 2011, FDA announced that it was evaluating current allowable
levels of inorganic arsenic in apple juice in response to consumer groups’
demands for tighter restrictions. Details about this and related matters were
featured in Issue 419 of this Update. See Press Release of Representatives
Pallone and DeLauro, February 8, 2012.