News
Study Finds Harmful Metals in Some Common Drinks
Common drinks like fruit juices and milk available at grocery stores may have higher than safe levels of certain metals, a new study by researchers from Louisiana have found.
The research under the title “Toxic metals and essential elements contents in commercially available fruit juices and other non-alcoholic beverages from the United States” has been included in the upcoming issue (Volume 119, June 2023, 105230) of the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. Led by researchers from Tulane University of New Orleans, LA, the study measured levels of 25 elements in 60 soft beverages. These included: single fruit juice, mixed fruit juice, plant-based milk, artificial/soda, and tea purchased in New Orleans, Louisiana, and commercially available in the United States.
The Abstract of the study wrote:
Mixed fruit juices and plant-based milk frequently contained elevated concentrations of most of the elements.
As reported in earth.com, the study revealed that seven metals – nickel, manganese, cadmium, strontium, selenium, and arsenic – were present in some of the drinks above the normal (safe) levels. Two mixed juices had unsafe levels of arsenic while a mixed carrot and fruit juice and an oat milk each had unsafe levels of cadmium, i.e., more the three parts per billion standard.
Tewodros Rango Godebo, the study’s research lead, was cited by Medical Xpress commenting that most of these elements found in beverages presumably come from contaminated soil. Godebo added:
“People should avoid giving infants and young children mixed-fruit juices or plant-based milks at high volume.”
Although the levels detected in most of the drinks are not high enough to raise serious concerns for toxicity, the study does raise safety questions over regular and excessive consumption of these drinks and calls for more testing of foods and drinks in the interest of public health.
