Is this reactionary bullshit or a real concern?

[Jenise]

http://www.realfarmacy.com/reason-trader-joes-wine-cheap/

http://www.realfarmacy.com/reason-trader-joes-wine-cheap/

Not sure, Jenise...but I just, coincidently, got an e-mail from ChickenLittle that the sky is falling.

If you're drinking enough wine, the equivalent of your water consumption, then you have a bigger
problem than a concern for arsenic consumption.

One of the foods w/ highest levels of arsenic is brussel sprouts. So I never eat them...but for other reasons.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

It's really just a copycat article. They took the info from the lawsuit and repackaged it as a scare story.

[Robin Garr]

The only one of those wines that I drink anyway is Wild Irish Rose, and it'll kill my liver long before the arsenic gets me.

Didn't you read the author bio, Jenise? His "valiant contributions" to the "global paradigm shift" are "world renowned!" What more reason to stop drinking Two Buck Chuck do you need?

Just so, Robin. Ethanol is far more poisonous -- in the quantities present! -- than the arsenic.

Ms. Little also observed, with a loud clack and much fluttering of feathers, that there is enough arsenic in apple juice for the FDA to dedicate an entire page of their website to saying, "Nothing to see here"...
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/Metals/ucm280209.htm

[Jenise]

Didn't you read the author bio, Jenise? His "valiant contributions" to the "global paradigm shift" are "world renowned!" What more reason to stop drinking Two Buck Chuck do you need?

I did not! But it sure didn't smell right.

Just the first page was weird...if the problem is "arsenic" which is a metal, what difference does it make if it is "organic" versus "inorganic"? Arsenic is an element...it's a metal.

Plus there is the emphasis on "heavy metals" and "toxics". I am not sure it is scientific to state that arsenic prevents your body from removing other metals. A sign we are entering the realm of the Woo-O-Sphere.

[Robin Garr]

Just the first page was weird...if the problem is "arsenic" which is a metal, what difference does it make if it is "organic" versus "inorganic"? Arsenic is an element...it's a metal.

Actually, "organic arsenic" is a thing. In compounds with carbon atoms, I guess, sayeth the English Major ...

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORGANIC AND INORGANIC ARSENIC?
Inorganic and organic arsenic occur naturally in the environment, with inorganic forms being most abundant. Inorganic arsenic is associated with other metals in igneous and sedimentary rocks, and it also occurs in combination with many other elements, especially oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur. Organic arsenic contains carbon and hydrogen. It should be noted that inorganic and organic are not terms used to indicated pesticide usage, or even human activity, but rather the other metals and elements the arsenic is bound to.

Source: http://www.lundberg.com/info/arsenic-in ... senic-faq/

That's correct. "Organic arsenic" means carbon compounds containing the element arsenic.

An example of inorganic arsenic is As2O3, the white arsenic that artists used to use.

An example if an organic arsenic compound is ClCHCHAs(OH)2, Lewisite, a chemical warfare agent used in World War II.

Organic heavy metal compounds tend to be far more toxic than the bare element. For example, methylmercury (CH3Hg+) is way more toxic than metallic mercury because it is readily absorbed in the digestive tract and attaches itself to proteins.

-Paul W.

Interesting, guys!

I stand corrected.

But Paul, the implication of your comment is that the ORGANIC Arsenic compounds may be more of the problem-which is a different implication than the author of this piece!

I disagree with the author of the article that inorganic arsenic is the more toxic. In general, I would say that the opposite is true. Of course, toxicity varies from compound to compound. There are both organic and inorganic arsenic compounds that are non-toxic, for example.

Arsenic is also NOT technically a heavy metal, and its toxicity is not due to its action in preventing the excretion of heavy metals. Arsenic is poisonous mainly because it irreversibly forms compounds with lipoic acid, thus deactivating important enzymes that have lipoic acid as a component. This includes two key enzymes central to they body's energy production: pyruvate dehydrogenase and ketoglutarate dehydrogenase.

But, regarding the article, either way IMO this is just, as previously pointed out, just repackaging a frivolous lawsuit as a scare article.

-Paul W.

Before slamming CA cheap jug wines, it would be interesting to know:

What is the ppb arsenic in those wines?
What is the ppb arsenic in a range of premium wines (organic and not) from various parts of CA?
What is the ppb arsenic in a variety of wines, both cheap and expensive, from some of the major wine producing areas?

BTW, I was recently served a glass of a white from Carlo Rossi (which type, I'm not sure), and it was a lot better than I expected.
A little off dry and somewhat riesling-like, but well balanced. No signs of arsenic poisoning yet!

A little off dry and somewhat riesling-like, but well balanced. No signs of arsenic poisoning yet!

I would immediately undertake chelation therapy, Joe. Just to be "safe".

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRel ... index.html

Analysis of Total Arsenic Content in California Wines and Comparison to Various Health Risk Criteria

http://www.ajevonline.org/content/67/2/179.abstract

Conclusion

These results indicate that the presence of arsenic in wine does not represent a health risk for consumers.

This is one of the many reasons I like to buy imported wines from EU. the restrictions there are more severe. My new Spanish favorite at Trader Joes is the Terrenal Seleccionado which is awesome for 6.99$