Too Much Arsenic in Our Juice? Consumer Reports Says Yes
November 30, 2011
Arsenic:
Children's Health: In a welcome bit of news, the number of American kids without health insurance dropped by 1 million to 5.9 million between 2008 and 2010 despite a grim economy, Kelli Kennedy reports for the Associated Press. The new health reform law and better access to Medicaid help explain the improvement, experts said.
Medicaid: New cuts to California's Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, could save the state $623 million but will also put elderly and disabled patients at risk, Darrell Smith reports for the Sacramento Bee. Some skilled nursing facilities could be forced to close because of lower reimbursements.
Medicare: Medicare officials should do more to prevent doctors from unnecessarily prescribing powerful anti-psychotics to nursing home patients with dementia, according to government inspectors, Matthew Perrone reports for the Associated Press. The drugs typically are prescribed off-label to control aggressive behavior caused by dementia.
Addiction: The national drugstore chain CVS has notified some Florida doctors that its stores will no longer fill the doctors' prescriptions for the painkiller oxycodone and other controlled, highly addictive drugs, Barbara Liston reports for Reuters. The chain is concerned about prescription drug abuse in Florida, well-known for its pill mills.
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Photo credit: Joshua Ganderson via Flickr
Comments
In September, Dr. Oz aired a
In September, Dr. Oz aired a segment on his television program that highlighted the arsenic content in some popular brands of fruit juice. According to the Boston Globe, he hired ESML Analytical Inc. to test various juices for arsenic content. They found that of the 36 brands of apple juice they tested, 10 exceeded 10 parts per billion of arsenic, which Dr. Oz contends the limit should be set to. One reached 36 parts per billion.
The FDA’s limit is 23 parts per billion for juice, as the FDA believes that people will consumer more water than juice in a day. Therefore, the agency allows more arsenic in juice because the greater consumption of water will “balance out” the greater arsenic content. Read more: http://www.newsytype.com/13756-consumer-reports-arsenic-in-juice/
ABC News senior health and
ABC News senior health and medical editor Richard Besser, who initially criticized Dr. Oz for the segment GuianneO mentioned, apologized to Oz after the Consumer Reports investigation was released: http://bit.ly/v47rmh
Dr. Oz describing high levels
Dr. Oz describing high levels of arsenic in fruit juice in this segment has been charged with mockery from viewers and by some groups. The Food and drug administration was also not amused by him. However,this new study by Consumer Reports has backed up his claims. I guess people should be more educated with what is the difference between the organic and inorganic arsenic in order for them to analyze the product content they are consuming if it's dangerous or not.
Learn more at: http://www.newsytype.com/13756-consumer-reports-arsenic-in-juice/
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