Toxic chemical found in fruit juice

High levels of the suspected carcinogen antimony, have been found in packaged fruit juices and squash - in the worse cases, at nearly three times the EU limit for drinking water.

Antimony trioxide is a suspected cancer causing chemical used in the production of polyethylene terepthalate (PET) which is used to make food packaging materials, including plastic drinks containers.

Previous research found low levels of antimony in mineral water thought to have leached from plastic bottles.

But scientists from the University of Copenhagen measured the antimony concentration in fruit juices and fruit cordials as they thought the citric acid in them may enhance the leaching effect.

The scientists tested 42 different red fruit drinks from Scotland, Denmark and Greece including blackcurrant, strawberry, raspberry and sour cherry which ahd been stored in TetraPak cartons, glass bottles or containers made from PET material.

Eight of the samples contained antimony at concentrations above the EU limit for drinking water of 5 micrograms per litre. A specific brand of blackcurrant juice produced in the UK, but sold in the other countries, had "very high" concentrations of antimony.

However, the researchers could not establish a clear link between the antimony present in the fruit juice and the type of storage container.

The highest antimony concentration was found in a juice stored in a glass bottle. Blackcurrant juice with very high concentrations of antimony was stored in both PET containers and TertraPak cartons which don't contain PET. Further research will be necessary to find the source of the contamination.

Researcher Claus Hansen, who led the study said: “The antimony concentrations in the products tested exceed the limit in EU drinking water but no antimony limits exist for foodstuffs so no legislation has been broken.

“However, we cannot be sure that the antimony levels found are harmless.”

“It would be a good idea to have some more research to get a better impression of what the antimony limit should be in fruit drinks.”

This article was published on Mon 1 March 2010