Grape Juice
Completeness scorecard
Deterministic gap audit — no score is composite, no cell is LLM-judged. Each chip is re-derivable by re-running tools/evidence/build-ingredient-scorecard.mjs. review: residuals and missing data are worked autonomously via data/evidence/ingredient-scorecard-review-flags.csv and wiki/completeness-gaps.md.
| Dimension | Status | What’s there (auditable counts) | What’s missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Analyte coverage (tier: occasional) | GAP | 0/10 HMTc analytes, total n=0 | only 0/10 analytes have evidence |
| D2 Regional coverage | OK | 5 jurisdictions, top US 43% | — |
| D3 Anthropogenic evidence | GAP | 1 soil; no supply-chain link | link a supply-chain/ hub page |
| D4 Background mechanism | GAP | section present, 0 drivers, 1 upstream source(s) | drivers[] empty |
| D5 Pooling depth | GAP | no priority analytes | — |
| D6 Speciation | OK | iAs, tHg, tAs declared | — |
| D7 Basis declaration | GAP | 0/10 populated cells declare a basis token | 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U |
| D8 Provenance integrity | GAP | 9 claims checked, 9 supported; 3 citations, 0 orphan, 2 foreign | 2 foreign citation(s) not naming grape-juice: fda2022-draft-lead-juice, codex-cxs-193-1995 |
| D9 Mitigation | GAP | 0 cited lever(s), 6 mitigation/ link(s) | section present but no source-cited lever |
| D10 Regulatory coverage | OK | 2 rule link(s), 0 metal(s) covered | — |
| D11 Standards-readiness | NOT-READY | no priority analytes | basis: 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U; depth below occasional bar |
| Principle balance | OK | consumer-protection 0.67, contamination-reduction 0.00, brand-value 0.00, legal-defensibility 0.50, scale 0.00 | — |
This is a structural ingredient node created so product pages can link to a real wiki target. Occurrence values remain pending until a source is promoted for this ingredient.
Heavy metal contamination profile
Per-analyte snapshot derived from the machine-readable contamination_profile in the frontmatter above. data gap indicates the literature has been reviewed for this commodity-analyte combination and no usable occurrence data was found (a finding, not a placeholder). The Key sources column shows the top 2-3 contributing sources by year and sample size, with numbered wikilink aliases.
| Analyte | Coverage | Typical (ppb) | p95 (ppb) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Cd | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| iAs | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| tAs | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| tHg | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Ni | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Al | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Cr | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Sn | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| U | data gap | — | — | — | — |
Routing
This node is linked from fruit-juice-not-canned.
Contamination Profile State
The machine-readable contamination profile is pending. Ingredient-level values belong here once parsed; finished-product values belong on the relevant product-category page.
Sources
Auto-generated from source-page frontmatter. The “Used on this page for” column is populated by the orchestrator’s POPULATE-SOURCE-LEGEND action; pending entries appear as *[awaiting synthesis]*.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Souza et al. 2022. Determination of the Trace Element Contents of Fruit Juice Samples by ICP OES and ICP-MS, Brazilian Journal of Analytical Chemistry | 2022 | Peer-reviewed | ES/PT Al, tAs, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, V, Zn occurrence in 21 fruit juice and nectar samples: 16 commercial fruit juices, 2 commercial nectars, 2 laboratory-squeezed orange juices, and… (n=21) |
| 2 | FDA 2022. Total Diet Study Report: Fiscal Years 2018-2020 Elements Data, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Total Diet Study Program | 2022 | Government report | US Pb, Cd, tAs, iAs, tHg, Ni, Cr, U, Sb occurrence in Composite TDS samples across 307 foods (3,241 food/beverage samples + 35 bottled-water samples) collected across six US regions… (n=3276) |
| 3 | U.S. House of Representatives, 2021. Baby Foods Are Tainted with Dangerous Levels of Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium, and Mercury, Staff Report | 2021 | Gray literature | US iAs, tAs, Pb, Cd, tHg occurrence in Internal company testing records (ingredient pre-shipment tests and finished-product tests) subpoenaed from seven major US baby-food manufacturers covering… |
| 4 | Kubachka et al. 2019. Quantitative Determination of Arsenic Species from Fruit Juices Using Acidic Extraction with HPLC-ICPMS, Food Analytical Methods | 2019 | Peer-reviewed | US iAs, tAs occurrence in Multiple fruit juice types (apple, pear, grape, pomegranate, prune, cherry) from commercial sources |
| 5 | Balali-Mood et al. 2018. Arsenic and Lead Contaminations in Commercial Fruit Juices of Markets in Mashhad, Iran, Iranian Journal of Toxicology | 2018 | Peer-reviewed | IR Pb, tAs occurrence in 50 commercial packaged fruit juice samples from Mashhad, Iran local markets in spring and winter 2016; grape, apple,… (n=50) |
| 6 | F-D et al. 2015. Vertical distribution and analysis of micro-, macroelements and heavy metals in the system soil-grapevine-wine in vineyard from North-West Romania, Chemistry Central Journal | 2015 | Peer-reviewed | RO Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Co occurrence in Three Vitis vinifera cultivars (Feteasca albă, Feteasca regală, Riesling italian) grown in one 4-ha vineyard at Turulung (Satu… (n=3) |
| 7 | Paula et al. 2015. Effects of Pre- and Post-Harvest Factors on the Selected Elements Contents in Fruit Juices, Czech Journal of Food Sciences | 2015 | Peer-reviewed | PT Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, Zn, Fe occurrence in 62 packs of 100% fruit juices acquired randomly from major supermarkets in Portugal; samples covered multiple fruit species,… (n=62) |
Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals
Grape juice is the liquid extracted from grapes (Vitis vinifera, Vitis labrusca for Concord grape, and other species). Among common fruit juices, grape juice sits at the upper end of the per-juice Pb range historically because of three pathways: legacy lead-arsenate vineyard pesticide residues persisting in older vineyard soils (now phased out but still detectable in long-established vineyards), trellis-system metal-deposition (older galvanized-steel trellis wire contributes Zn and trace Pb to the immediate root zone), and naturally elevated grape-skin Pb-binding capacity (grape skin tannins bind metals more efficiently than fleshy fruit skins). The HPLC-ICP-MS arsenic-speciation work in Kubachka 2019 documents iAs and tAs in commercial grape juice on the US market and is the primary speciation evidence base for this commodity.
The HMTc panel concerns for grape juice are Pb (dominant historical concern; central to FDA Closer to Zero juice action levels), trace iAs, and Sn for canned grape juice. The famous Mateel Environmental v. Welch Foods California Prop 65 settlement (2019) specifically targeted Pb in commercial grape juice, establishing settlement-based compliance levels lower than the original federal HACCP 50 ppb threshold and prefiguring the FDA 2022 draft 20 ppb action level for non-apple juices.
The data gap status across all ten analytes in the body table reflects sparse grape-juice-specific quantitative data in the current routing audit. The synthesis is grounded in the broader fruit juice evidence base, the Kubachka 2019 speciation work, and the FDA juice-action-level rulemaking history.
Ranges by source, region, and variety
Variance within grape juice tracks grape species (Concord/Vitis labrusca grape juice has different per-mass profiles than Vitis vinifera grape juice reflecting different skin tannin and pigment content), vineyard age (older vineyards with legacy lead-arsenate residues carry higher Pb), growing region (California, Washington state Concord, New York Finger Lakes, Argentine, Italian, Spanish grape production — each with distinct soil and atmospheric Pb baselines), and processing scale (large-scale commercial vs craft / regional grape-juice production). Pasteurized commercial grape juice typically sits at the modern 1-5 ppb Pb range; legacy and emerging-market product may carry higher levels.
Processing effects
Grape-juice manufacturing involves washing, crushing, pressing, screening, optional pectin treatment for clarification, pasteurization, and packaging. The skin-and-seed fraction retains a substantial portion of the source-grape Pb and Cd; juice typically carries lower per-mass metals than the source grape on a wet-weight basis. Clarification with bentonite or other fining agents can remove additional trace metals through adsorption. Pasteurization does not affect metals. Canned grape juice introduces a Sn migration pathway in the acidic juice matrix (pH ≈3.0-3.5); modern can-stock specifications address this. Concentrate-and-reconstitute production: concentrates carry concentrated per-mass metals; reconstituted juice carries the concentrate-dilution profile.
Ingredient-derivative risk
Grape juice routes into the fruit-juice-not-canned product family. Derivatives include grape juice concentrate (primary intermediate for reconstituted juice; concentrated metals per-mass), Welch’s-style grape jelly (per-mass Pb similar to source juice; the gelling and sweetening agents do not affect Pb), Concord grape-flavored beverages, and wine grape products that overlap with non-alcoholic grape juice. Wine itself carries different per-mass metal profiles than grape juice because the fermentation and aging process introduces different contamination pathways (cooperage, wine-bottle closure migration, deliberate winemaking additives).
Mitigation options
Sourcing levers (supply-chain-screening) are the dominant intervention for grape juice. Vineyard-age and -history specification (avoid grapes from documented legacy lead-arsenate vineyards); trellis-system audit (galvanized vs stainless-steel trellis specification); geographic-segmented sourcing from documented low-soil-Pb production regions; and contractual specification of Pb ceiling on incoming juice or concentrate.
Agronomic levers (agronomic) operate at the vineyard stage. Soil pH management (raising pH reduces Pb plant availability); cover crops to immobilize legacy soil Pb; and avoidance of high-Pb organic amendments (some composts and biosolids carry elevated Pb).
Processing levers (processing) include processing-equipment material specification (stainless-steel-only contact surfaces), enhanced clarification with bentonite or PVPP (polyvinylpolypyrrolidone) to remove additional trace metals via adsorption, and avoidance of older soldered or unlined storage tanks.
Formulation levers (formulation) include juice-blend formulations (blending grape juice with lower-Pb juices to dilute per-product Pb load); juice-to-water dilution in grape-flavored beverage formulations.
Testing and QC levers (testing-and-qc) are mature: lot-level Pb testing on incoming grape juice and concentrate against the FDA 2022 draft 20 ppb action level for non-apple juices, the EU 30 ppb maximum level, and (for California-distributed product) the Mateel Environmental settlement specification levels. ICP-MS is the standard analytical platform.
Packaging and storage levers (packaging-and-storage) include can-lining specification for canned grape juice (BPA-NI epoxy, full lacquering) to minimize Sn migration; glass, PET, or aseptic carton packaging eliminates the Sn pathway entirely. Storage-condition specification extends shelf-life migration tolerance.
Regulatory limits that apply
- FDA 2022 draft action level of 20 ppb Pb for non-apple juices (including grape juice), replacing the older 1995 50 ppb HACCP threshold.
- eu-2023-915 — EU Reg. 2023/915 sets binding maximum levels for Pb in fruit juice at 30 ppb (including grape juice).
- California Prop 65 (california-prop65) Pb MADL applies; the 2019 Mateel Environmental v. Welch Foods settlement specifically established practical compliance levels for grape-juice products sold in California.
- Codex Alimentarius CXS 247-2005 (General Standard for Fruit Juices and Nectars) includes contaminant provisions referencing CXS 193-1995.
- EU Sn-in-canned-food regulation sets 100 mg/kg maximum level for canned beverages including grape juice.
Page history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
| Commit | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| b0f3d38 | 2026-06-12 | batch | corpus rescreen b04 old terminal skips |