'Poison' drinks health scare

A POISON as harmful as arsenic is ­contaminating fruit juices and cordials drunk by millions of people every day across Britain, scientists revealed last night.

A harmful toxin has been discovered in 16 of the most popular brands of juice and squash A harmful toxin has been discovered in 16 of the most popular brands of juice and squash

The toxin called antimony, which is lethal in large doses and has been linked to cancer, was discovered in 16 of the most popular brands of juice and squash.

Experts expressed “concern” over the findings, which they believe may be the result of chemicals in the drinks’ plastic bottles leaching into the liquid.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, which published the research, raised fears for the health of children and called for an investigation “straight away”.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen found levels in the fruit drinks were far above those allowed in tap water under European rules.

Researcher Claus Hansen 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.”

He added: “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.”

The RSC said: “Marketing, certainly for the cordial products, is geared towards children. It’s a children’s drink.

“That means they are more likely to drink it than adults and are more at risk.” The alarm was raised after scientists discovered that the drinks regularly broke EU limits for antimony imposed on tap water.

Eight samples contained higher levels of the substance allowed, while one undiluted drink was found to have levels of the chemical that were 800 per cent higher than tap water.

Clinically, antimony is similar to arsenic and causes headaches, dizziness and depression. High levels can be fatal within days.

All of the unnamed sample drinks were produced in the UK and were widely available in supermarkets across Europe. Antimony is listed as a top pollutant in America by the Environmental Protection Agency.

It is also listed in the UK on the Environment Agency’s pollution inventory. The agency said prolonged contact with antimony may affect the digestive system, eyes, heart, kidney, lungs and skin.

Dr Hansen warned that the toxin could also be found in other food products. He also said not all of the drinks were in plastic bottles, with some in Tetra packs.

The study tested 42 drinks including blackcurrant, strawberry, raspberry, sour cherry, mint and caramel products.

Authors of the report, featured in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring, said the results showed concentrations up to 17 times higher than previous studies.

The report said more research was needed to find out whether antimony was leaching into the drinks from the ­plastic bottles or whether it was present during manufacture.

The British Soft Drinks Association yesterday defended the industry and its regulations. A spokesman said: “Fruit juices and juice drinks are safe. There is no read across between the levels of antimony permitted in drinking water and those that might be acceptable in a fruit juice or a juice drink.”

He added: “The packaging is safe. The data in the study does not confirm any conclusions about the packaging and the authors themselves conclude that ‘further studies are warranted’.”

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