This guy is a flaming idiot. But worse than that, he’s dangerous.
He goes out and gets apple juices crudely tested for total arsenic and gets high results, then goes on the air on national television to proclaim that our apple juice has too much arsenic in it. Schools have started pulling apple juice from their lunch programs, and everyone is in an uproar.
Only one problem: Many foods, apples included, naturally contain arsenic, and total arsenic (organic + inorganic) is not an indicator of safety. Only a small fraction of the total arsenic is the kind that is dangerous to humans: the inorganic type.
The FDA regularly tests fruit juices for total arsenic. When they find a sample that is above a certain danger threshold, they re-test the juice with a much more expensive second-tier test that gives the breakdown between organic and inorganic arsenic. If the inorganic level is high, the FDA takes action against the producer immediately, including recalls and punitive measures. You can go to the FDA site and download the entire arsenic test procedure. These guys know what they’re doing. Here’s the title of it:
Elemental Analysis Manual: Section 4.10: High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometric Determination of Four Arsenic Species in Fruit Juice
Dr. Oz had the apple juice tested crudely, and only for total arsenic. He did not follow up with the much more accurate chromatographic test described above, to see if there really were high levels of dangerous arsenic in that juice.
Oh, it’s ok, because Dr Oz is an idiot. He had no idea that he was testing for the wrong thing.
Right?
Wrong. The FDA sent him a letter explaining all of this a week before his show aired.
He decided to air it regardless. It’s all about ratings you know. Who cares if you cause a panic and put a few dozen apple growers out of business. Ratings are king.
Ok, you apple growers, I think it’s time for a nice big class action lawsuit against Dr. Oz.
He goes out and gets apple juices crudely tested for total arsenic and gets high results, then goes on the air on national television to proclaim that our apple juice has too much arsenic in it. Schools have started pulling apple juice from their lunch programs, and everyone is in an uproar.
Only one problem: Many foods, apples included, naturally contain arsenic, and total arsenic (organic + inorganic) is not an indicator of safety. Only a small fraction of the total arsenic is the kind that is dangerous to humans: the inorganic type.
The FDA regularly tests fruit juices for total arsenic. When they find a sample that is above a certain danger threshold, they re-test the juice with a much more expensive second-tier test that gives the breakdown between organic and inorganic arsenic. If the inorganic level is high, the FDA takes action against the producer immediately, including recalls and punitive measures. You can go to the FDA site and download the entire arsenic test procedure. These guys know what they’re doing. Here’s the title of it:
Elemental Analysis Manual: Section 4.10: High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometric Determination of Four Arsenic Species in Fruit Juice
Dr. Oz had the apple juice tested crudely, and only for total arsenic. He did not follow up with the much more accurate chromatographic test described above, to see if there really were high levels of dangerous arsenic in that juice.
Oh, it’s ok, because Dr Oz is an idiot. He had no idea that he was testing for the wrong thing.
Right?
Wrong. The FDA sent him a letter explaining all of this a week before his show aired.
He decided to air it regardless. It’s all about ratings you know. Who cares if you cause a panic and put a few dozen apple growers out of business. Ratings are king.
Ok, you apple growers, I think it’s time for a nice big class action lawsuit against Dr. Oz.
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