Walmart recalls apple juice produced by Tampa-based company over high arsenic levels

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The FDA has issued a Class II recall for apple juice sold at Walmart, which means it “may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.”

The apple juice, sold under the “Great Value” label of Walmart is being recalled in 25 states because the product contains potentially harmful levels of inorganic arsenic.

The UPC for the apple juice is 0-78742-29655-5, and the product’s “best if used by” date is Dec. 28, 2024.

The apple juice is manufactured by Refresco Beverages US Inc, which is based in Tampa. No one at Refresco was immediately available to comment on the recall.

Walmart issued a statement saying:

The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority. We have removed this product from our impacted stores and are working with the supplier to investigate. Customers who have this in their possession should not consume the product. They should discard it and may visit any Walmart store for a full refund.

Dr. Jill Roberts, a food safety expert at the U.S.F. College of Health, said recalls like this are not common.

“Just simply having due to a chemical in the first place is completely unusual,” Roberts said. “99% of the time when I’m speaking to someone over a recall issue it’s because it has a microbe in it. It’s because it has salmonella. It’s got listeria, very rarely does it involve a chemical.”

She said the contamination may have been caused by the use of pesticides, but that won’t be known until a full investigation by the FDA is complete.

“When you have high amounts of it, that’s generally a sign that you have too much pesticide residue and so we don’t know for sure because there hasn’t been an investigation in this case yet, but that would be the first thing I would look to if there is too much pesticide residue here,” Roberts said.

Dr. Justin Arnold with the Poison Control Center at Tampa General Hospital said people should throw the apple juice away or return it to the store but not be overly concerned.

“Overall, I don’t think people should be concerned with it,” Arnold said. “Again, we see with inorganic arsenic, we see people who consume high amounts for long amounts of time have special problems, and this is a small amount above what EPA recommends, but I anticipate most people don’t drink that much apple juice for that long.”

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