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For Immediate Release
May, 24 2021, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Email:,info(at)fwwatch(dot)org,Seth Gladstone -,sgladstone@fwwatch.org
Alarming Lead, Arsenic Levels Found in Popular Vinegar Brands
Groups that conducted new round of tests urge the FDA to take action.
WASHINGTON
Citing new test results that show alarming levels of lead and arsenic in vinegar products sold at national chain supermarkets, the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch and Rochester-based Empire State Consumer Project (ESCP) issued a letter to the Food & Drug Administration to take action on the issue.
ESCP tested 24 major brands of vinegars or vinegar reductions and glazes for contaminants, and found that nearly half (11) were contaminated with arsenic or lead. Seven brands tested positive for both. All but one of the samples testing positive were balsamics, and all were imported from Italy, Greece, or Spain.
The tests found high levels of arsenic and lead in brands like Great Value (Walmart) Balsamic Vinegar, Rachel Ray Balsamic Reduction, Colavita Balsamic Vinegar, Wegmans Aged Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Alessi Balsamic Reduction. All tested products found to be contaminated are sold through retailers like Walmart, Target and Wegmans.
ESCP's tests sought to determine if levels of contaminants had changed since they were originally identified in 2002 by the Environmental Law Foundation. The original tests had led to labeling requirements in California, but no other measures were taken to protect consumers. The updated test results clearly show that lead and arsenic levels continue to be unacceptably high, highlighting the need for greater consumer protections at the federal level.
"It should go without saying that consumer rights groups should not be the ones doing testing to make sure that our food is safe to eat. This is absolutely the responsibility of government agencies, and they need to take this seriously," said Food & Water Watch staff attorney Zach Corrigan.
"We think it's time all U.S. consumers were protected with the same product and shelf labeling California requires while we wait for the FDA to set federal limits," said ESCP President Judy Braiman.
Lead and arsenic both pose distinct and serious health risks, particularly for pregnant women. Exposure to arsenic in utero is associated with DNA damage and micronuclei in newborns, and elevated levels of lead can increase the risk of miscarriage and cause premature birth. Lead exposure poses risks to a baby's brain and kidneys, and is linked to other learning and behavioral problems. Arsenic is also a cardiotoxin, making it particularly dangerous for the elderly, African Americans and many other people with a range of chronic illnesses.
In 2011, the same groups partnered with Consumer Reports to test arsenic levels in apple juice. As a result of that work, the FDA agreed to set arsenic limits for those products; those rules are still being finalized. The groups hope to spur the same response from the FDA in ensuring limits for arsenic and lead in vinegars.
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
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More than a dozen groups intervened in a case in Wyoming on Wednesday to defend the Biden administration's decision to postpone the sale of oil and gas leases in the state, arguing that numerous court ruling and settled laws have affirmed the U.S. Interior Department is free to determine when such sales will go forward—or whether they will at all.
The legal groups Earthjustice and the Western Environmental Law Center are representing 17 national and local groups in the case, in which the state of Wyoming and two industry trade groups sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in December over its postponement of sales that had been planned for 2021 and 2022.
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FOE is joined by groups including the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, Citizens for a Health Community, and the Western Organization of Resource Councils in defending the Biden administration's decision.
A U.S. District Court ruling in Wyoming in September 2022 affirmed that the administration can postpone the sales, and the U.S. Supreme Court has also ruled that the agencies "have broad discretion to determine the timing and scope of lease sales, including not holding them at all," FOE said in the press statement.
\u201cNEWS RELEASE: Conservation groups to defend @POTUS administration postponement of oil, gas lease sales. Again.\n\nWe won this case last year, too.\n\nhttps://t.co/pN5NO55VgM @Earthjustice @Wilderness @foe_us @CenterForBioDiv @MTEIC @PRBResCouncil @NPCA @WildernessWork @SierraClub\u201d— Western Environmental Law Center (@Western Environmental Law Center) 1675882076
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\u201cLet me congratulate @BMWEDIBT and @TCUnionHQ for guaranteeing paid sick days for 5,000 rail workers at CSX. Now it's time for the entire rail industry, which made over $26 billion in profits last year, to provide at least 7 paid sick days to every rail worker in America.\u201d— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1675872420
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