Food and Drug Administration should be thankful to daytime TV star Dr. Mehmet Oz, who made them skeptical about apple juice being infested with elevated levels of arsenic and lead.

Initially, they rebuked Oz claims, but then in suspicion, they asked Consumer Reports to conduct an investigation in this matter. FDA said there are two types of arsenic, one is naturally formed arsenic and is not harmful to human body, while another one is inorganic form and if present in huge amount, it could be toxic for human body.

In total, 88 samples were tested of apple juice as well as of grape juice. Juices were brought from three different states. It was found that 10% of the total juices were exceeding the federal standards of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for arsenic.

It should however be noted that Consumer Reports team has used drinking water to assess the level of arsenic and lead in juice as till now they federal standards for arsenic in juice has not been defined by the FDA. Amount of arsenic in the water was used as a comparable measure.

Most of the juices which were found to be having excessive levels of arsenic also were the ones which have excessive amount of lead in it. More than 25% of juices were found to be having more than the 5 ppb limit of lead.

The FDA revelation is a matter of concern, as the level of heavy metals above 23 ppb is not at all permissible. The advocacy branch of Consumer Reports, Consumers Union recommended that the FDA should set a limit for companies in regard to arsenic and lead presence in juice bottles.

As per them, not more than 3 ppb of arsenic in any form should be allowed, while lead presence in juice should not be more than 5 ppb.