Californian wine hits back at arsenic ‘propaganda’

The body representing Californian winemakers has refuted claims made in a study released this week that said potentially dangerous levels of arsenic are present in nearly all American red wine.

In a statement titled “How worried (or not worried) should people be over arsenic in wine?”, the trade body said: “All wines sold in the US are completely safe and consumers should have no concerns about enjoying them.”

It comes after a University of Washington study analysed the arsenic levels in red wine produced in California, Washington state, Oregon and New York.

The study found levels of the poisonous substance that exceed the maximum permitted in drinking water in 64 of the 65 wines tested, with some of them greatly exceeding this limit.

The wine samples showed arsenic levels ranging from 10 to 76 parts per billion, with an average of 24 parts per billion. The US Environmental Protection Agency allows drinking water to contain no more than 10 parts per billion.

However, the Wine Institute of California (WIC) has called the study an example of “propaganda” which is designed to support “financially motivated litigation” – a reference to ongoing civil cases against wine producers over arsenic in their wines.

The WIC argued that authorities in the US, Canada and Europe “regularly test wines for harmful compounds including arsenic to ensure that all wine is safe to consume.”

The methodology of the Washington study was “questionable”, and its findings contradict previous research into arsenic levels in wine, the WIC said.

The research also shows the levels of lead present in American red wines. Washington is repeated with an asterisk to show the only two white wines tested in the study, which reflects the high proportion of whites produced in the state (Photo: University of Washington)

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario tested 2,247 wines from California in 2014, with the data from their tests finding arsenic levels “far below those suggested by the University of Washington study”, the Wine Institute of California said.

The author of the University of Washington research, Denise Wilson, recommended more stringent procedures be put in place in wineries to test for arsenic and other harmful substances in their products.

This too has been questioned by the WIC, which says that American wineries already adhere to “stringent health and safety regulations”.

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that is toxic to humans, and can cause skin, lung and bladder cancers, as well as other life-threatening diseases.