The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits arsenic in public drinking water to 10 parts per billion, a level that has forced some communities to invest millions on treatment to cut existing levels.
The request for FDA action came after Food and Water Watch (F&WW) and its partner, the Empire State Consumer Project, announced the results of tests by Paradigm Environmental Services showing Mott’s Apple Juice with arsenic levels of 55 parts per billion.
According to F&WW, more than 70 percent of the apple juice consumed in the United States now comes from the People’s Republic of China, where the government has acknowledged a problem enforcing a new food safety law. F&WW also reports that China makes wide use of arsenic-based pesticides in farming.
F&WW began drawing attention to potential dangers of food from China last month, especially juice, candy and canned fruit consumed by American children. According to the group, China’s food exports to the U.S. have tripled over the past decade to nearly 4 billion pounds of food in 2010 with a value of $5 billion.
Less than 2 percent of imported food is inspected by FDA.