Apple juice sold at Walmart under the popular Great Value brand has been recalled due to elevated levels of arsenic. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upgraded the voluntary recall to Class II on Friday. In the first notice issued earlier this month, the federal agency noted that the recalled product “contains inorganic arsenic above the limit established by industry guidelines.”
Walmart recalls apple juice due to high arsenic content
9,535 cases of 8-ounce Great Value Apple Juice, sold in six-packs in PET plastic bottles (UPC 0-78742-29655-5), were recalled by Refresco Beverages US Inc., based in Tampa, Florida, on August 15, according to recall number F-1746-2024. The best-before date of the recalled products is December 28, 2024.
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The affected products were sold in 25 states: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.
However, the recall has now been upgraded to Class II, meaning that “a noncompliant product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences, or the likelihood of serious adverse health consequences is remote.” The recalled products were found to contain 13.2 ppm of inorganic arsenic, which is in stark contrast to the accepted maximum level of 10 ppm.
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The FDA stated that exposure to high levels of arsenic in young children “is associated with adverse neurological effects such as learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and lower IQ.” Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic in adults, on the other hand, is associated with “skin disorders and an increased risk of skin, bladder, and lung cancers, as well as cardiovascular disease.”
