As the result of a risk assessment study, FDA will institute a new “action level” for arsenic in apple juice of 10 parts per billion, the same level allowed in tap water. The agency says it has been monitoring the presence of arsenic in apple juice for the past 20 years, but new tools have allowed a more complete understanding of the levels of inorganic and organic arsenic.
Last year, FDA tested 94 samples and found total arsenic levels of 10 parts per billion or less in 95 percent of them. All samples were found to contain less than 10 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic, the carcinogenic form of the chemical.