California wines- Are you addicted to California wines? Wait until you read this! Some cheap California wines were found positive for inorganic arsenic that is believed to be lethal beyond allowable limits.
For this reason, the companies face lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday by four plaintiffs.
Based on the lawsuit filed against the 31 California companies including Korbel, Franzia, Sutter Home, and Trader Joe's Charles Shaw White Zifandel, also known as 'Two-Buck Chuck,' these California wines contain unsafe arsenic, Daily Mail cited.
"Just a glass or two of these arsenic-contaminated wines a day over time could result in dangerous toxicity to the consumer," according to the papers filed in the court in Los Angeles Superior Court.
According to lead attorney of the complainants, Brian Kabateck, the plaintiffs namely Doris Charles, Jennifer Peltier and Jason Peltier from San Diego, and Alvin Jones from Los Angeles are all concerned citizens who are not affected by the arsenic California wine.
They demand to halt production of these wines for public safety.
Before a lawsuit was filed, over 1,300 bottles of California wines were tested and about a quarter of the number were found to be positive for high levels of dangerous arsenic. As Independent reports, some of the wines even contain five times higher than the regulated limit.
A Denver laboratory BeverageGrades, headed by Kevin Hicks has revealed that it was shocking to know that some of the California wines have very, very high levels of arsenic. From the samples he tested, a conclusion was made on relation of the price of the California wines and its arsenic content.
Hicks has found that the cheaper the price of the California wines, the higher is the content of the arsenic.
As reported by the CBS news, the brands that are found guilty for high arsenic content are Trader Joe's famed Two-Buck Chuck White Zinfandel, which had three times the required limit, Franzia White Grenache had five times the limit and Trois Moscato had four times.
The results gathered by Hicks in his laboratory were supported by University of California-Berkeley epidemiologist, Allan Smith, who confirmed that the results were true. He added 50 ppb of arsenic in wine found in one of the California wines are toxic after long time of consumption.
According to Cancer.org, arsenic can cause cancer and other more dreaded diseases. It is an element that is normally found in air, water, soil and rocks, plants and animals. Arsenic levels in drinking water are regulated by the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The allowable arsenic content in US drinking water since Jan. 2006 is 10 μg/L (micrograms per liter), or 10 ppb (parts per billion).
Food Safety News reported that the California wines that were found with high levels of arsenic are priced at $10 or less where most cost $5. Brian Kabateck, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, stated that those consumers spending little for their wines could pay high on their health in the long run.
