SOURCE: CBS, Consumer Reports

According to a new report released Wednesday, January 30, 2019, 45 popular fruit juices have tested positive for heavy metals.

Consumer Reports reported they contained “measurable levels” of lead, arsenic, and cadmium in every product tested. The only metal tested for but not found was mercury.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, long-term exposure to these metals is linked to serious health risks, such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, inhibited learning, and kidney disease.

Heavy metals are substances are introduced into food in various ways, including naturally in the air, water and soil, but can also taint food during the manufacturing/packaging processes, Consumer Reports told CBS news.

Since Consumer Reports last tested juice products eight years ago, some improvements have been made, including the recommendation that children are given “less juice.”

Out of the 45 juices tests, 21 samples contained a combo of heavy metals that reached a concerning level when consumed daily. Of those 21 samples, seven were deemed capable to harming children who only drank a half cup daily. According to the CDC, long-term exposure to heavy metals may put people at risk for kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, damaged ability to learn and certain types of cancer.

According to the CBS report, Dr. Leo Trasande, director of environmental pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, there are “particular points in life when even a small amount of exposure…can disrupt hormones and thereby contribute to disease.”

Trasande recommends swapping juice for eating an apple – preferably organic – and drink water instead. “My suggestion is they simply eat an apple, preferably organic, and drink water as a substitute for these juices,” Trasande said.

When CBS reached out to all the juice companies included in the report, ten responded claiming their products are all safe and that they follow all food safety guidelines.