One of the “wonders” of modern life for parents running from one kid event to another includes the availability of small boxes of juice prepackaged for storage, transport, and consumption with less risk of spilled juice in the car. While this option for parents makes like easier in this hectic fallen world, it does come with a risk in our fallen world, toxic metals. Along with the enjoyable taste and nutritional qualities like anti-oxidants come a variety of minerals and metals, some of which are good (Ko et al., 2005, Slavin and Lloyd, 2012, Hosseini et al., 2018) and some of which at high levels could cause harm if over-consumed (Hague et al., 2008). This study looked at 60 beverages from grocery stores in New Orleans, Louisiana measuring 25 different metals to determine if any could lead to toxicity in adults or children.
Although American’s are drinking less fruit juice in recent years, totaling about 5.2 gallons per person per year (Bloomberg report), children are the highest consumers of these juices. Most agree that the metals content of these juices in the amounts consumed by average adults is at low risk of toxicity, the effects on children at these higher amounts is not clear. Some quick take aways from this study include limiting mixed fruit juices which tend to contain multiple metals and overall monitoring the amount of juices consumed by infants. While not the focus of this research article, the amount of sugars which contribute to inflammation and future health issues also deserves consideration.
One might ask why we would find metals in fruits and their juices in the first place. This situation arises from several factors including: some fruits ability to concentrate specific minerals from soil, the water used to irrigate the fruits, soil composition, air pollution, what fertilizers are used, and how the juices are processed afterwards (Bragança et al., 2012, Tufuor et al., 2011, USFDA, 2013). Examples of different fruits and their minerals concentrated demonstrate this diversity. Some berries and pineapple concentrate manganese (Whitbread, 2021, July 28, Beattie and Quoc, 2000). Other berries along with pomegranates and guavas contain more zinc (Whitbread, 2021). Despite knowing the presence of various metals in fruit juices only lead, arsenic, and cadmium have safe levels determined for their consumption in juice. For others, the standard for water levels is extrapolated to juice.
Given the limited number of prior studies looking at metals in juice, this study sought to better define the levels American consumers are exposed to. Besides the 19 single fruit juices and 6 juices with mixed fruit content, they also looked at 21 artificial drinks (sports drinks, vitamin water, soft drinks), and several non-dairy substitutes. They measured the levels of 25 different minerals in these drinks that they purchased from grocery store shelves in Louisiana.
Overall, there were seven metals which were found to exceed safe levels in some of the drinks: nickel, manganese, boron, cadmium, strontium, arsenic, and selenium. Although lead was detected in 93% of samples, most were below 1 parts per billion, a very safe level. Aluminum was another metal found at above safe comparable water levels in 40% of the products measured.
At average or below average levels of juice consumption, these amounts are unlikely to be sufficient to cause disease in adults if these are the only sources. Given their lower body weight, children have a higher risk if above average intake occurs. The other problem is that these juices may not be the only source of these metals. If a child who is being exposed to other sources has a high juice intake, the combined doses could lead to toxicity.
While the reality of the Fall bringing about illness in our world and the reality of soil containing a variety of minerals good and bad, we cannot expect to remove all metals from our food or our juices. Instead, we should educate ourselves and make wise choices regarding what we eat. Consumer Reports offers a good source on which juice brands have higher metal levels in the secondary sources listed below. Helping our patients live healthier more abundant lives requires knowledge, discernment, and commitment to healthier lives for ourselves and the next generation.
Bibliography:
Tewodros Rango Godebo, Hannah Stoner, Madeline Pechilis, Hadley Taylor-Arnold, Julia Ashmead, Leah Claman, Liam Guest, Will Consolati, Oona DiMatteo, Madison Johnson, Kalista Cowden, Danny Shaferman, Evan Gordon, Hayden Dillman, Nati Phan, Aaron Tegegn, Sandra Vazquez Garrido, Eames Heard. Toxic metals and essential elements contents in commercially available fruit juices and other non-alcoholic beverages from the United States. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 2023; 119: 105230 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2023.105230
Thanks to Science Daily:
Tulane University. “Elevated levels of toxic metals in some mixed-fruit juices and soft drinks.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 May 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230504155650.htm>.
Secondary Sources:
Fox, Justin. Sept. 27, 2019. Opinion: The Fall of Juice and the Rise of Fresh Juice. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-09-27/american-shoppers-spurn-orange-juice-for-for-fresh-fruit. Accessed June 7, 2023.
Hirsch, Jesse. January 30, 2019. Arsenic and Lead Are in Your Fruit Juice: What You Need to Know. Consumer Reports. Accessed June 7, 2023. https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/arsenic-and-lead-are-in-your-fruit-juice-what-you-need-to-know/
Slavin, J.L. et al. Health benefits of fruits and vegetables. Adv. Nutr. (2012).
Hosseini, B. et al. Effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on inflammatory biomarkers and immune cell populations: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. (2018).
Hague, T. et al. Determination of metal ion content of beverages and estimation of target hazard quotients: a comparative study. Chemistry Central Journal (2008).
Bragança, V.L. et al. Trace elements in fruit juices. Biol. Trace Elem. Res. (2012).
Beattie, J.K. et al. Manganese in pineapple juices. Food Chem. (2000)
(Some references only available in original Article.)
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
