fyi

[Guest guest]

Here is an interesting article from the Schafer Autism Report. For a list of

the juices and fruits that tested positive for lead, go to 85% of Kids'

Drinks, Snacks Could Contain High Levels

<http://www.inhabitots.com/2010/06/11/85-of-kids-drinks-snacks-could-contain

-high-levels-of-lead/> of Lead | Inhabitots .

Dianne Doggett, Organizer

Austin Autism Treatment Forum

<http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Autism-Treatment-Forum> www.meetup.com/

Austin-Autism- Treatment- Forum

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________

_________ _________ _

Group Finds Lead In Kids' Drinks

By Varney NPR. <http://xrl.in/5lwn> xrl.in/5lwn

From KQED - A California environmental group found levels of lead in

children's juice products that far exceed state law -- and in some cases

also exceed federal levels for young children. The group purchased apple

juice, grape juice, canned peaches and pears, and fruit cocktails -- all

marketed for kids -- and sent them to an EPA-certified lab for testing.

ROBERT SIEGEL, host: A California environmental group has found

amounts of lead in bottled juice, juice boxes and packaged fruit that exceed

federal limits for young children.

SARAH VARNEY: It's the kind of case test that parents dread. Over the

last year, the Environmental Law Foundation, a nonprofit based in the Bay

Area, purchased dozens of brands of juices and fruit products around

California and sent them to an EPA-certified lab in Berkeley. And what they

found was unsettling. Many individual servings of apple juice, grape juice,

packaged peaches and pears and fruit cocktail - all lunchbox staples -

contained lead above the daily limit for young kids. Those limits were

established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Schardt is a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in

the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group that tracks food safety

issues. Schardt reviewed the testing results for NPR.

Mr. DAVID SCHARDT (Science Director, Center for Science in the Public

Interest): If someone is making unfortunate choices in the brands that

they're buying and serving their children, this could be a cause of concern

because they might be getting more lead than is healthy for them.

VARNEY: The tests were particularly troubling because the levels were

calculated on a single serving, not the multiple juices and packaged fruits

that an average five-year-old might consume in a given day. And there's no

questioning the potency of the substance involved. Lead has long been known

to cause physical and mental developmental problems.

Schwarzman, a family physician and associate director of the

Center for Green Chemistry at the University of California Berkeley, says

children are especially vulnerable.

Dr. MEGAN SCHWARZMAN (Associate Director, Berkeley Center for Green

Chemistry; Research Scientist, School of Public Health, University of

California Berkeley): Their brain is not mature. Their nervous system is not

mature. All of their organ systems are developing rapidly.

VARNEY: The products tested range from nationally recognized brands to

more niche market favorites, but the results were troubling across the

board. A single serving of Raley's private-labeled premium apple juice,

Santa Cruz Organic Concord Grape Juice and Dole Pear Halves each contain

levels of lead beyond what federal regulators consider safe.

In a written statement, the West Coast supermarket chain Raley's said

the company was surprised by the lead levels since its suppliers and private

brands routinely monitor their products, but the company says it has ordered

independent tests to check for lead.

A spokesman for the J.M. Smucker Company, which owns Santa Cruz

Organics, says the company did not have enough information to investigate

the claims being made.

The environmental group says it undertook the testing to see if the

kid-friendly juice and food products were complying with a California law

that requires manufacturers to post safety warnings on products if they

exceed lead levels set by state scientists.

The group has sent notices of suspected violations of state law to

California's attorney general, Jerry Brown. The foundation's president, Jim

Wheaton, says that such tests can go a long way toward changing company

behavior.

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