Are There High Pesticide Levels in Your Fruit Juice?

Fruits have been shown to have a variety of wonderful health benefits. With their high vitamin and antioxidant content and a relatively low calorie profile, it's no wonder more people are adding fruit to their shopping list. While the natural fruit with its fiber intact is generally the healthiest choice, some people turn to fruit juice as a quick and convenient way to get the health benefits of fruit. Unfortunately, a new research study published in the journal Analytical Chemistry may cause fruit juice lovers to think twice. It turns out those seemingly healthy fruit juices may have high pesticide contents.

In a study, carried out in Spain, over one hundred different fruit juice and fruit juice drinks were tested for the presence of pesticides. These fruit juices and fruit drinks came from fifteen different countries throughout the world including the United States. To their surprise, many of the samples contained relatively high pesticide levels of the types that are normally sprayed fruits during the growing process to protect them from insects. Although the levels of pesticides found in fruit juice from the United States was lower than those from Spain and the U.K, the fact that such substantial concentrations were found in some samples is cause for concern. The levels of pesticides in many of the fruit juices tested were much higher than those allowed in bottled waters. It's unclear from this study whether any of the samples tested and found to have high pesticide levels were labeled as organic fruit juice or whether they were all made from conventionally grown fruits.

If you drink fruit juice should you be concerned about these high pesticide levels? Although the long term effects of most pesticides are unknown, it certainly wouldn't seem wise to consume them on a regular basis, particularly in the case of children who may be more susceptible to their effects. If you want fruit juice without the high pesticide levels, buying organic juice may be the way to go. Organic fruit juices are generally sold at natural food markets and some conventional grocery stores. Although there's no guarantee that these juices are pesticide free, they, most likely, will contain much lower levels of pesticides than standard fruit juices. Another option would be buy organic fruit from a trusted source and use a juice extractor to make your own fruit juice. Even better, get your fruit quota by eating the whole fruit so you can take advantage of the fiber.