There are trace amounts of lead in most drinking water.  I’m not thrilled about it, but unless one drinks tens of gallons of water every day over a prolonged period, it doesn’t amount to a notable exposure.

Most packaged juice for kids has high fructose corn syrup or sugar as a primary ingredient- right after water.  Even when actual fruit is present (it is regularly supplanted by artificial flavorings), the juice is still preserved with unfamiliar chemical compounds and colored artificially with compounds now banned throughout Europe.

Juice is often blamed for triggering hyperactivity, preschool obesity, and early tooth decay.

There are so many good reasons not to serve packaged juice.

Great work as usual.  Rational, scientific, well researched.  Definitely why I keep coming back.

Great work!! I’m so sick of all the media hype to scare parents..yes, lead is bad, but it’s probably in everyday food/water consumption (moderation and a varied diet is good). thank you for reminding us of the real issues at hand.

Thank you so much for your quick response on this!

thank you for the reasonable approach.  I’ve been freaking out the past day (I’m prone to anxiety anyway) and this post made me feel better.

So now you are willing to accept X level of lead in your water - used to grow food, wash your face or whatever, brush teeth, drink when thirsty,,, how about mercury in the fish we eat?  how much is acceptable?  How about cadmium - how much do you want to ingest?  Statistically now half of us will end up with some form of cancer.  kidney disease - people on dialysis, kidney transplants, etc. health care costs increasing exponentially, or people who can’t even find or pay for hc.  any connection do you think?  ya, feel better.

[I’m not sure who you are suggesting is “willing to accept” it - the lower the better is more or less the mantra around here. But sending masses of parents into a panic over whether they’re buying the right juice brands or the wrong ones is wrong and unwarranted. - Ed.]

We should always be alarmed as parents when OUR children are concerned. Yes, we should research and look for the facts. Yes, we should never just trust some agency, department, or foundation without knowing who funds their research; however, when OUR childrens’ health is at risk, parents should do something about it. Speak out, vote, boycott. Arsenic was used in pesticides in apple orchards up until several decades ago (and it doesn’t break down in the soil), so your statement about parents having the “chance to ditch the juice boxes for actual fruit” won’t limit exposure (apples being just one example). It’s time this country takes a true look at our S.A.D. (standard American diet) way of eating. We can do better. (...off my soapbox...guess I’m grateful to eat some lead vs. dying in a proverty sticken land with no food...)

[Our primary objections are to the ELF’s tactics. We would rather see well-publicized data regarding worst offenders (if there are any), and that would be a better and more effective target for a boycott; other poor performers could then follow their example, and ELF could work their way down their list. We see advocacy and pressure groups work strategically to effect change all the time. This way sucks. - Ed.]

To Adrienne: The juices in the study probably didn’t have high frutose corn syrup or added refined sugars (obviously, juice contains fructose naturally). I believe the juices were ‘100% juice,’ -if you can believe the labels- and though I agree that there are reasons to avoid serving juice (my child gets water in his sippy cup), I also believe that juice should be held to the same standards as drinking water (Standards!? At least the water here is better than in Ethiopia) when it comes to lead contamination.

I read the news then checked my pantry and fridge—I ditched the apple juice we had because it was on the list.

You can call me a panicker if you’d like. You can call me that because it simply doesn’t matter to me what anyone thinks; it matters to me what is safe for my child. These exposures are not one-time deals. My kid has years and years to grow, and I must limit his exposure now using the best of my knowledge.

I wish that you would give some of us credit. I haven’t seen masses of parents thrown into panic. I didn’t faint or lose my mind.

[Jennifer, it is safe to assume (unless ELF comes out and states otherwise) that these are one-time tests and do not reflect trend information or tracking over time. Do you have reason to believe that juice box brands that tested as “safe” would pass a similar test in three months, when fruit might be coming from a different grower, different region, or different part of the world? Our belief is that the safest way to avoid this particular source of lead would be to stop eating any canned fruit (which we already have, because of BPA), as well as any packaged juice (making your own when local fruit is in season) and serving children juice much more moderately than most U.S. parents do (going the fresh route is an easy way to lower frequency very quickly). There is real harm done by providing kids with a steady supply of juice and thinking it is healthy, but as far as chemical exposures are concerned, I’m not sure where you spend your time online, but we have seen a lot of confusion and, yes, panic. Kudos to you for keeping cool. - Ed.]

Since you asked, even if these tests are not tracking tests, the test has exposed “organic” brands and common brands as being part of the problem and not the solution. Did it ever strike these companies to do rigorous internal testing?

Second, if you look at fruit and juice products, much of it is either concentrate or fruit from China. You all know the problem with those!

Assuming lead is everywhere anyway, why should I be OK with even MORE lead exposure?

At least one of the ‘safe’ juice makers is based not far from my home, so I can take a trip there to check the place out and ask questions. Same for turkey suppliers at Thanksgiving. If I suspected something wrong, I would go check it out. Obviously not everyone has access like that, but I’m not speaking for anyone else, just for me.

The tests by ELF have made me more aware. For me it’s not as simple as banning juice from the house because *I* like to drink orange juice or other juices, and in general, I don’t try to turn things such as cookies or juice into evil forbidden fruits—we have open discussions about nutrition. Making everything ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ isn’t the right approach to education in my opinion.

Thanks for commenting on this.  I was interested to hear your thoughts.  I didn’t take the study so much as a final say type thing but more of a heads up - look what could be in our food type study.  I did think of the environmental factor - but then thought if Prop 65 set a limit somewhere, they must have thought it was a reasonable limit, right?  Are there legal implications of this?  How is Prop 65 enforced and are these companies in violation?  Without them disclosing the actual numbers, its hard to say how much of an issue this is.  Its just one more reason not to trust my food to the companies anymore.  (and yes, I just watched Food Inc, lol)

I appreciate this article, not because advocacy one way or another, but for it’s cogent broader view—and of course the relevant links.  I don’t know how I feel about the whole issue (beyond the parental brain-stem freak-out!), but I am deeply grateful for the chance to learn more.

I agree the ELF’s tactics leave a lot to be desired - scaring parents and pursuing Prop 65 lawsuits. But, I have to disagree with your dismissal of the “no safe level of lead.” The current action level for lead is 10 ug of lead per dL of blood. But countless studies have shown significant, irreversible health effects at blood lead levels (BLLs) down to 2 ug/dL, including drops in IQ up to 7 points and attention deficit/behavior disorders. Those studies lead the National Academy of Sciences, the Am. Academy of Pediatrics and others to declare that there is no safe level of lead in the body. We have no need for lead in the body. The FDA (the same organization that is so slow to act on BPA) has set provisional total tolerable intake levels (PTTI) for lead based upon age groups - and the level for young children of 6 ug/day are based upon a BLL of 10 ug/dL, a level we know is TOO HIGH. So the analysis is flawed from the beginning. The more relevant analysis would be to look to the lead limit for sugar (0.1 ppm) or the FDA’s limit for candy likely to be consumed by children of 0.1 ppm.

Many of you have posted relief and gratitude for this article.  People like to hear that ‘everything is going to be OK’, and ‘there’s nothing you can do, because the problem is too big and pervasive’ so that they can go back to their text messaging and reality TV, instead of working to demand that the food, drug and water companies do something significant about the levels of lead and other toxins in the substances were putting into our own and our childrens’ bodies.  Trace amounts ARE significant, because they’re in every single thing we consume these days (as you’ve noted) - THEY ADD UP.  We need complete transparency in labeling of all products (food and non-food products).  And then we need to boycott those products containing carcinogens and other toxic chemicals and additives.  Even the most well-meaning guides and books for non-toxic living fail to inform parents that lead, aluminum and MSG are present and substantial in almost everything we consume ("natural flavors” and “spices"=MSG) (aluminum in almost all processed cheese and baking powder).  How about this… buy organic (or unofficial equivalent) fruit, vegetables and dairy from your local farmer.  Buy the rest of your minimally processed foods from only those reputable companies that are explicit and transparent in their processing practices and ingredients.  Fruit juice is like candy people, you shouldn’t be giving it to your kids anyway.

Here’s my question, when considering lead in food, does it make sense to really understand how it came to be there? I mean lets say my favorite brand uses a great grower that never used leaded gas in his tractor or lead-based pesticides, but still his produce came up as containing lead. Is this just naturally occurring? Some kind of contamination he is not aware of (like in the water he’s drawing from a contaminated river with a plant upstream)?  From what I understand, there is no way to get it OUT once it is there, whether in the soil or in the produce.  Meaning, your local organic farmer may also be a victim, not a criminal.  I guess I just want to do the best I can with my kids, but I believe that like it states in the article that suppliers likely change from time to time within product lines and I also agree that limiting certain things, like tons of juice is a good idea.  In the end stress and worry can be just as dangerous to you and your child’s health right?

[Well said. Note that much of the lead in soil is based on several decades of leaded gasoline, and the effects are regional, not local to the land on which the gasoline was used. Haven’t seen good data on how current policies on lead in gasoline impact soil lead levels in different countries; presumably a country that still relies on leaded gasoline would have higher soil lead, but just haven’t seen that data. - Ed.]