Martinelli’s Recalls Nearly 25,000 Cases of Apple Juice
Testing found one lot of juice contained elevated levels of inorganic arsenic.
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Check your juice bottles: Martinelli’s has issued a recall for nearly 25,000 cases of apple juice.
In an ongoing voluntary recall initially issued April 16, 2024, the Watsonville, California-based juice maker S Martinelli & Company sounded an alarm about a “single lot” of Martinelli’s Gold Medal Apple Juice sold in one-liter (33.8 fl. oz.) bottles because they contain elevated levels of inorganic arsenic.
In a letter sent to its “valued partner[s],” the company says the recalled bottles were shipped March 13 through September 27, 2023, and feature a “Best By” date of “09MAR2026” or “10MAR2026” on the front above the labels.
A complete list of recalled pallet/batch codes can be found here.
This recall, issued with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), followed the discovery by the State of Maryland that one lot of Martinelli’s apple juice (sole in one-liter glass bottles), contained levels of inorganic arsenic that exceeded the guidelines for apple juice as opposed to set by the FDA in June 2023.
The acceptable limits are now 10 parts per billion, whereas previously it was 23 parts per billion. The apple juice sampled in Maryland clocked in at 11.6 parts per billion.
The “FDA has stated that exposure to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic can pose a health hazard to young children,” the company notes in the letter to vendors.
Short-term exposure to extremely high doses of inorganic arsenic may induce symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea as well as dehydration and shock, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long-term exposure, meanwhile, may lead to skin disorders along with a higher risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer.
Fortunately, however, Martinelli’s has, to date, received no reports of illness or complaints related to the recalled juice. What’s more, no other shipments of the Martinelli’s Gold Medal Apple Juice in one-liter bottles or other Martinelli’s products are affected by the recall.
The recalled juice — totaling 24,519 cases or 147,114 units — was shipped to vendors in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as in Puerto Rico and Panama, according to Food Safety News.
Retailers have been instructed to remove the recalled products from their shelves. Consumers who find them in their pantries or fridges are directed not to consume them and to either dispose of them or return them to the place they purchased them.
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