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BY KIM ST. ONGE
ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

You're watching multisource health video news analysis from Newsy.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? MSNBC reports that a new study says maybe not.

DR. OZ: “Some of the best known brands in America have arsenic in their apple juice.”
REPORTER: “The show says it hired an independent lab to test samples of apple juice produced overseas. That lab found a third of the samples contained levels of arsenic higher than what the EPA allows in drinking water.”

Dr. Oz’s new findings quickly drew a lot of sour attention. Fox News quotes the FDA in a letter it sent to The Dr. Oz Show, saying the study is flawed because it tested for both organic arsenic, which is safe, and inorganic arsenic, which can be dangerous.

The drug administration says the mixing of the two types led to skewed results.

"The FDA believes that it would be irresponsible and misleading for The Dr. Oz Show to suggest that apple juice contains unsafe amounts of arsenic based solely on tests for total arsenic."

Some doctors were quick to jump on board with the FDA. ABC News Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser scolded Dr. Oz on Good Morning America.

“I’m very upset about this. I think that this was extremely irresponsible. Putting out this kind of a health warning, manufacturing a health crisis based on faulty, incomplete data. This fear mongering -- it reminds me of yelling fire in a movie theater.”

To that Dr. Oz said his show did its homework. Whether his findings are accurate, the shocking study caused apple juice lovers around the country to take action.  

KHQA reports the Liberty School District in Illinois already pulled the juice off the menu.

“They found traces of arsenic in apple juice concentrate from China, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and a few other countries. I checked our labels and also found that these were made in china and Chile concentrate.”

A stay at home mom and food blogger for Mother Nature Network says this is just another day of finding out something else we thought was safe might not be. But in this battle of "he said, she said," she’s siding with Dr. Oz.

“I never believe that just because the FDA says something is safe that it is. I know that they take a ‘safe until proven unsafe’ stance, but many of the substances they allow are questionable.”

The FDA conducted its own study and reports finding very low levels of the “dangerous” arsenic in apple juice.


Transcript by Newsy.