"Very high levels of arsenic" in top-selling wines

[Suzanimal]

I think your franzia is gmo based. I'm not sure, though.

It comes in a box and costs 15.00 for 5 liters - I would be surprised if it weren't.

[Natural Citizen]

It comes in a box and costs 15.00 for 5 liters - I would be surprised if it weren't.

I think its the artificial ingredients that are genetically modified. Like I said, though, I'm not exactly sure. I was reading something some time ago with regard to various wine products and it was on the list. I just don't remember what the paper was about at the moment. The thread reminded me of it.

It may have been a genetic modification that wasn't anything questionable. I just don't remember.

[presence]

I don't think there are gmo grapes yet

[Natural Citizen]

I don't think there are gmo grapes yet

Nah, it wasn't the grapes. It was some of the other artificial ingredients. There are only a few genetic fruit modifications at the moment and they aren't on the market yet. Well...not here at least.

Do they even use real grapes in suzanimal's stuff? I think it's all artificial. I don't know.

[amy31416]

I know there's arsenic in apple seeds, haven't checked out grapes though. I brew my own stuff--but that doesn't mean it doesn't have naturally occurring arsenic.

[TheTexan]

It comes in a box and costs 15.00 for 5 liters - I would be surprised if it weren't.

Someone should really capitalize on Expensive Boxed wine. It seems to be an untapped market.

[donnay]

Brand, please?

Trader Joe's Organic Wines
Reds:

Domestic
Bonterra Cabernet $10.99
Well Red (the only sulfite-free wine at Trader Joe's) $5.99
Trader Joe's Grower's Reserve Cabernet $5.99
Trader Joe's Grower's Reserve Zinfandel $5.99

http://www.traderjoeswineguy.com/p/t...nic-wines.html

[PaulConventionWV]

Comes pre-poisoned for dissatisfied wives!

[presence]

boxed wine may have an environmental dark side: Some of the plastic bags inside the boxes contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), a synthetic chemical that has been in use for four decades to strengthen plastic food containers and other items but recently has been linked to a range of human health problems. “A growing amount of scientific research has linked BPA exposure to altered development of the brain and behavioral changes, a predisposition to prostate and breast cancer, reproductive harm, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease,” reports the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The bags are made out of #7 plastic, a catchall category typically containing mixed types of plastic (“polycarbonate”), combined for various practical reasons. As more and more research comes to light, many environmentalists and public health advocates are warning consumers to avoid storing any food or drinks in containers made out of #7 plastic, as there is likelihood that BPA could be part of the mix.

Most wineries offering boxed wines make it clear if their plastic bags do not contain BPA. For one, Scholle Packaging, inventors of the BIB system and one of the largest wine box manufacturers, uses only BPA-free #7 plastic in their bags. Perini, Campo Largo, Bota Box and many other box wines come in BPA-free packaging. The simple way to know is to read the labels when you’re wine shopping.

Also, don’t think that by avoiding boxed wine you are necessarily avoiding BPA. Researchers have found that the plastic stoppers so many of us use to cap an unfinished bottle, not to mention the lining of concrete vats used to store wine at many wineries, contain and can leach BPA into your glass. That’s not to say that all wine contains BPA; quite the contrary, in fact, as most bottled wine still never comes into contact with plastic and as such does not carry any BPA-stigma. Regardless, the more you know, the safer you can be—so that the worst thing you get from your wine is a hangover.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...n-boxed-wines/

Boxed wines have had a bad rep because of their predecessors such as Franzia, which were essentially cheap wines in bulk. Now, however, you can enjoy a premium California wine by the glass. I like to enjoy about a glass of wine, maybe two, a night. Being married to a micro-brew fanatic means I'm going solo on the vino. A bottle can easily go off before you've had a chance to drink it, making the Bota Box an awesome solution. After opening, it stays “good” for up to 45 days and contains the equivalent of four standard bottles of wine. In most areas, it retails for less than $20, making it a real bargain.

Bota Box has taken their green initiatives one step further. Their boxes are made using Kraft paper layers that are bonded with corn starch instead of glue and is printed directly on instead of bleaching it first. The recycled paper is composed entirely of post-consumer fiber and the entire box is 100% recyclable. While you have to remove the bladder and spout to recycle the box, the bladder and spout are also recyclable wherever number seven plastics are accepted. The ink and coatings are soy, rather than petroleum, based and the bladder is BPA and phthalate-free.
We can all raise a glass to that!

http://www.momcentral.com/blogs/mom-...-mamas-franzia

[amy31416]

Someone should really capitalize on Expensive Boxed wine. It seems to be an untapped market.

It's not. I sent my cousin a box of some good stuff as a gift.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/l...xed-wines.html

[presence]

You should check out wine ingredient kits; the wine is as cheap or cheaper than franzia... but you're storing juice concentrates in bags not finished alcohols.

Homebrewing wine is really easy, and you come to appreciate affordable fine wine in the same way you can appreciate a home cooked meal.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/winemaking/wine-kits

[Suzanimal]

You should check out wine ingredient kits; the wine is as cheap or cheaper than franzia... but you're storing juice concentrates in bags not finished alcohols.

Homebrewing wine is really easy, and you come to appreciate affordable fine wine in the same way you can appreciate a home cooked meal.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/winemaking/wine-kits

I really should. There's no excuse for me not to make it myself.

[Suzanimal]

Someone should really capitalize on Expensive Boxed wine. It seems to be an untapped market.

I would love to see wine in Capri Sun pouches. Perfect for the wino on the go.

Comes pre-poisoned for dissatisfied wives!

I gotta admit, that cracked me up.

[donnay]

I really should. There's no excuse for me not to make it myself.

[Dianne]

Good point.

The wine I drink is organic with no sulfites added.

Which wine is that? And do we know if wine imported from Chili has arsenic?

[donnay]

Which wine is that? And do we know if wine imported from Chili has arsenic?

Post #37 Otganic Well Red from Trader Joe's.

[Zippyjuan]

Organic is not necessarily arsenic free- arsenic is naturally occurring. (but to note again, others testing the same wines did not find the levels of arsenic claimed in the lawsuit- the suit seems to have been an attempt to publicize their wine testing business). And "no sulfites added" does not necessarily mean no sulfites (noting that the label on that particular wine says "no sulfites detected").

https://thewinefeed.com/2012/09/educ.../#.VRMFHfzF_P8

Can I tell anything about the amount of sulfites in the wine by the label?

Unfortunately, for the vast majority of bottles on the shelves, not much about the wine’s sulfite levels can be determined from the label. There are occasionally a few hints, though, that can be helpful. Here is what the label terminology means in terms of sulfites:

“Contains Sulfites” – This is found on all wines that have sulfites levels of 10 ppm or higher. As sulfites are a natural byproduct of fermentation, this indication is found on almost every wine bottle sold in the United States.
“No Sulfites Detected” – This is permitted on the labels of the very few wines that have sulfite levels below 10 ppm.
“No Sulfites Added” – These wines have naturally occurring sulfites, which usually range anywhere from 1 to 20 ppm, but there have been no sulfites added to the wine.
USDA Certified “Organic Wine” – These wines have naturally occurring sulfites up to 10 ppm, and no sulfites have been added.

What are sulfites?

In wine, the term “sulfite” refers to sulfur dioxide, or SO2. Sulfur dioxide is found in limited quantities in all wines, as it is a byproduct of the fermentation of grape juice. Also, sulfites are usually added to wine during the winemaking and bottling process.

Why are sulfites added to wines?

Sulfur dioxide is used as a method of protecting, preserving, and storing wines, and it is a crucial element in shipping wine successfully. Sulfur dioxide’s main roles are to prevent oxidation of the wine and kill bacteria and yeast in order to keep the wine clean and prevent refermentation.

Do some wines typically have more sulfites than others?

Yes, the amount of sulfites that need to be added to adequately preserve a wine depends upon the wine’s style. Due to the fact that red wines contain tannins, another antioxidant, red wines generally have the lowest amount of sulfites. Dry white, dry rosé, and sweet red wines typically have the next lowest amount of sulfites. Sweet white and rosé wines are the next up the ladder in amount of sulfites, followed by very sweet dessert wines having the most sulfites. Generally, the more residual (remaining) sugar in your wine, the more sulfite you will need to use in order to keep the wine from spoiling. Yeast and bacteria love sugar!

Sweeter wines= more sulfites.

Are sulfites causing the headaches, flushed cheeks, and stuffy sinuses I sometimes experience after drinking wine?

This is where this conversation gets tricky. While the FDA estimates that as many as 1 in 100 people do have a “sulfite sensitivity,” there are also other compounds in wine that could be causing your symptoms such as alcohol, tannins, and histamines. Moderate to high levels of sulfites are also found in many other fruit products and processed foods, such as bacon, sausage, frozen fruit juice, dried fruit, and dried noodles. So, if you can eat these foods without symptoms, then perhaps the sulfites in wine are not the cause of your problems. However, even if your symptoms are not being caused by sulfites, if you are having allergic reactions to wine, please go see your doctor!

[Todd]

You should check out wine ingredient kits; the wine is as cheap or cheaper than franzia... but you're storing juice concentrates in bags not finished alcohols.

Homebrewing wine is really easy, and you come to appreciate affordable fine wine in the same way you can appreciate a home cooked meal.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/winemaking/wine-kits

This is why I brew my own beer these days.

[donnay]

Lead, for example, cadmium, mercury, arsenic. In an organically bound form, however, in trace amounts, many of these same elements play an important role in the body's bio-chemistry. Arsenic, for example, helps facilitate neonatal growth and plays a part in metabolizing selenium, an element proven to be crucial to the health of the heart muscle. In a metallic form, on the other hand, arsenic can be deadly. In fact, it is 65 times more toxic than organically bound arsenic.

http://www.majesticearth-minerals.com/faq.php#4

Other references:
http://academicjournals.org/article/...%20et%20al.pdf
http://www.dcnutrition.com/minerals/...ecordNumber=57

[Suzanimal]

Arsenic And California Wine: Do You Need To Worry?

I am what I have termed a blue collar wine snob. I’m picky about my wine and am even a member of a wine club, but I rarely pay more than $10 a bottle, mainly because I drink about two bottles a week. So when I caught a headline about popular wines supposedly containing enough arsenic to eventually cause cancer, you can bet I raised an eyebrow. CBS News reported last Thursday that “very high levels of arsenic” showed up in almost a quarter of 1,300 wines tested by independent Denver-based lab BeverageGrades. “Very high,” according to BeverageGrades founder and former wine distributor Kevin Hicks, meant four to five times more arsenic than the EPA standard for drinking water, which is 10 parts per billion (ppb), or 10 micrograms per liter (mcg/L).

Among the top-selling wines with three, four and five times the 10 ppb standard were, respectively, Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck White Zinfandel, Ménage à Trois Moscato and Franzia White Grenache. Hicks told CBS he noticed a trend of higher amounts of arsenic the cheaper the wine was on a per-liter basis.

The CBS report reads as alarmist — though they mention at the end that their own independent testing of four wines yielded arsenic levels above 10 ppb but much lower than BeverageGrades’ results — and Hicks clearly finds these results concerning enough that he’s filing a class action suit against more than two dozen wine makers and sellers for their unsafe products. He’s also, by the way, marketing his company’s testing services to wine makers who might be concerned about… arsenic in their wine. This news report and lawsuit could easily be seen as creating one’s own demand. But if we assume the BeverageGrades’ results are correct — a big “if” since the results have not been independently confirmed, the company has not described its methods, and the company is simultaneously attempting to sell winemakers its services after creating a news story — how much should you be concerned if you’re a regular wine drinker?
The shortest answer, according to Kenneth Spaeth, MD, chief of occupational and environmental medicine at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, NY, is we don’t know yet.

...

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/03/...-2-buck-chuck/

[AFPVet]

I suppose it could be a problem if you drink more wine than water. Arsenic occurs naturally in the soils.

The CBS article notes that their own testing did not find the same levels as those claimed in the lawsuit.



It also notes that the high levels were only found in the cheapest wines.

Indeed. I've found that after just a couple glasses of the cheap box wine, I felt "bad"; whereas, with a more expensive "less pesticide/more pure wine", I felt better.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Part of the allure of getting high is consuming the crappiest, most low down you can get.



You got a nickel
I got a dime
Let's get together
And buy some wine



Mike Bloomfield, Drinkin' Wine Live

[Zippyjuan]

Indeed. I've found that after just a couple glasses of the cheap box wine, I felt "bad"; whereas, with a more expensive "less pesticide/more pure wine", I felt better.

I get more of a headache if I drink cabernet sauvignon. Zinfandel is fine (and tastes better anyways). Maybe it is the tannins.

[donnay]

I get more of a headache if I drink cabernet sauvignon. Zinfandel is fine (and tastes better anyways). Maybe it is the tannins.

More than likely the wine your drinking has petroleum-based sulfites which cause headaches--not naturally occurring sulfites..

[Zippyjuan]

Actually they do not. Darker and drier wines have fewer sulfites anyways. (see my earlier link in this thread). The level of sulfites in zinfadell is not that different from cabs so that is not it. Most likely tannins.

[Brian4Liberty]

More than likely the wine your drinking has petroleum-based sulfites which cause headaches--not naturally occurring sulfites..

Many alcoholic beverages have chemicals other than ethanol.

[Brian4Liberty]

Many alcoholic beverages have chemicals other than ethanol.

As a gross generalization, the less expensive alcoholic beverages have more Congeners:

In the alcoholic beverages industry, Congeners are substances other than alcohol produced during fermentation. These substances include small amounts of chemicals such as other alcohols (known as fusel alcohols), Methanol, acetone, acetaldehyde, esters, tannins, and aldehydes (e.g. furfural). Congeners are responsible for most of the taste and aroma of distilled alcoholic beverages, and contribute to the taste of non-distilled drinks.[1] It has been suggested that these substances contribute to the symptoms of a hangover.[2][3] Congeners have also been used by forensic toxicologists to assist in determining the alcoholic beverage consumed by an individual in a sub-discipline called alcohol congener analysis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congener_%28alcohol%29