Question from Michele
I just came to realize that I have been giving my child cranberry juice and found out there is benzene in it.
Cranberries have natural benzoic acid and the company adds absorbic acid (vitamin c) and together they form benzene.
From the samples done that I found documented online the level of benzene is less than 2ppb which is less than the 5ppb allowed in drinking water.
However, I am concerned I could have given my child too much benzene since I have been using this juice for 2 years.
Did I raise my child’s risk for leukemia and is there any statistic that shows the risk? Thank you
Debra’s Answer
This is old news.
I’m looking at a news article from 2006 that says:
Here are the key things that made benzene form
If there is no sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate in your cranberry juice you have nothing to worry about. No benzene was formed.
And even if your cranberry juice did contain these benzoates, it would also need to have been exposed to light and heat. Chances are low that 100% of the cranberry juice contained benzene.
