NPR featured a story today on high levels of lead found in fruit and juice for children…
Story is available http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R201006101730and an FAQ page here.
The long list of products (including some from Whole Foods, Safeway, Kroeger and big, national brands you know and might buy, like Dole, Del Monte, and Earth’s Best) is available here or beginning on page nine of the legal notice to companies that they’re in violation.
Isn’t it good to know that we can’t trust one stinking company with our food, nor our government to protect us? Good, good times, Corporate America.
NaptimeWriting 
And to think we spent so much time worrying about the cups before.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrfreakinarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.
jeeeeeeeeeeeeez.
thank you for posting this, naptime. i had no idea.
Thanks for posting. I’ve passed it along to my FB peeps. This is very frustrating! And what’s worse is that even organic stuff isn’t safe. That was my first thought — “I’ll just always buy organic.” But yeah, that’s not the panacea we’d like it to be. Stupid pollution.
OMG. That is a long ass list! Thank you so much for posting this. I didn’t even hear about this.
No info in what I’ve read or heard, about whether this is a processing issue or a produce issue. I’m guessing that if it was the fruit itself, more brands would have the problem. I’m guessing the processing facilities or packaging are part of the problem. But I would love to see this investigated further. Good gravy, if it’s the fruit itself that’s full of lead, we’re REALLY screwed.
I hadn’t even looked on bottles of juice, other fruit products, or juice boxes to see where the apples or other fruit are from when buying for my kids until a few months ago thanks to my parents. My mom knew we were out of juice so she and my Dad decided to stop and get us some on their way to visit us one day.
They said they were a little concerned when they realized the majority of apple juice was from China exclusively or China and a few other countries. I had NO idea the apples and other fruits and juices I had been giving my two kids who are only 3 and 1 were coming from China! All I had been checking were the dates of course.
So now each time I go to pick out juice I try to find the bottles or juice boxes that don’t list China as a source. Our concern is all the recent lead and other contaminant recalls of non-food products from China. Why the heck would I want my kids to consume food and beverages originating from China? China appears not to care about its own citizens much less the rest of the world. Lets see, there’s been melamine in dog food AND baby formula (in China only as far as I know) and both instances caused the deaths and illnesses of thousands of animals and children. These two instances involving food products are what made the red flag go up in my mind when my parents discovered the juice and other fruit products I had been giving to my kids come from China.
So I’ve been trying my best to avoid fruit products from China to the best of my ability. But over the last 3-4 months it’s become virtually impossible for me to find juice, juice boxes, or canned and fruit cups that do not come from China. This is in my local grocery store as well as at Target. Motts, Minute Maid, Target’s Market Pantry, Southern Home Bilo brands, Juicy Juice– all are made with apples or other fruits from China. Last week was the first time I’d been forced to reluctantly buy juice for my 3 year old that is made with apples from China since my mom and Dad alerted me to this. For the first time since then I could not find a single bottle on the shelf at Bilo that didn’t list China as a source and we were completely out of juice at home. I would like to go over to Whole Foods which is on my parents’ end of town to see if I can find apple juice and juice boxes that do not contain apples from China.
Then last night, I saw the link to the article you wrote about on a parenting message board and then I found your reference to it today and I felt sick. I don’t think my parents and I have been crazy at all these last few months to be hesitant to buy fruit products originating from China. Obviously there’s been no official recall yet and government agencies as well as the companies own privately contracted labs will have to conduct testing on all these products in order to tell us if what this California group’s test results concluded are true or not. But, based own our gut instincts BEFORE this information came out and what this study found, I would unfortunately lean towards saying that the information is correct and not just some alarmist scare tactic bogus study.
Now I’m seriously going to seek out brands that only contain fruit from the US only or at least other countries that I feel more comfortable with having fruit from. Like when I see on a bottle of juice that it’s from the US and Chile or US and Argentina for example, I’m pretty ok with that because so much of our produce like grapes and berries already come from Chile and as far as I know that’s ok.
L, I agree that this is devastating. Note, though, that even if lead levels are high, the US gov has no power of recall. Industry has hamstrung the FDA and USDA so recalls are voluntary and are usually timed for after all the product has been sold and consumed. And companies like Johnson and Johnson go buy all their own products rather than issue a recall and damage their reputation.
Sonofabitch! Does this mean we all have to become farmers?
I love seeing the word “sonofabitch” in writing. It’s so Yosemite Sam, which is exactly how I feel right now. Thanks, faemom!
Perfect. That’s just freaking perfect. Just like when I used the SIGG bottles for so long and then they admitted to using BPA as well.
Thanks for posting.
Gibby, that’s exactly how I feel. I’m still mad at SIGG. Every time I wash a Kleen Kanteen I snarl at SIGG.
Yikes. It seems like there is no end to the worries about poison in our food and household items. Thanks for the update. I hadn’t heard about it yet.
Good, good times corporate AMERICA??????? Did you not read the part about the contaminated juice coming from CHINA, the source of poison baby formula and lead coated kids’ toys? Wake up and stop the ignorant America bashing!
Easy, there, Neill. Just because a commenter says the juice is from China doesn’t mean it’s true. Also, if American corporations buy lead-filled fruit from China because it’s cheaper than buying safe fruit, the American corporation shares the blame for selling toxic products.