Have you ever wondered what’s really in that $5 bottle of wine you’re drinking?
Researchers at a lab in Denver decided to find out, since there aren’t federal labeling requirements telling you what’s actually in wine. What did they find? Very high levels of arsenic, they claim - high enough to launch a class action lawsuit that accuses over 24 California winemakers and sellers of saying their wine is safe when it could be dangerous.
More than a quarter of the 1,300 bottles of wine that Kevin Hicks and his team tested at the wine analysis lab BeverageGrades had arsenic levels higher than the EPA’s maximum amount allowed in drinking water, which is 10 parts per billion. Hicks says he noticed a pattern: the cheaper the per-liter price of the wine, the higher the level of arsenic. The attorneys who launched the suit claim the defendants - including makers of Trader Joe’s famous “Charles Shaw” two-buck chuck, Franzia, Sutter Home, Cupcake, and others - produce and market wines containing dangerously high levels of inorganic arsenic. The experts say that even though “parts per billion” sounds like a small amount, 50 parts per billion of arsenic in wine could be deadly over time.
A spokesperson for The Wine Group, one of the companies that was named in the lawsuit, told CBS News that it would be inaccurate and irresponsible to use the drinking water standard as the benchmark, since people generally don't drink as much wine as they do water. He added that the highest arsenic level referenced in the lawsuit is still only half of Canada's standard for arsenic in wine, which is 100 parts per billion.
Is there a potential health threat to heavy wine drinkers? Should there be more transparency for what actually goes into wine? Will you stop buying certain kinds of wine due to concerns about arsenic levels? How much wine would an individual have to consume for it to be risky?
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated the lawsuit identified arsenic levels in Charles Shaw and Franzia wines. The claim does not include toxicology results.
Guest:
Michael Burg, Trial attorney with Burg Simpson based in Denver; Co-counsel filing suit against a dozen California wineries over arsenic levels in wine
Nancy Light, Vice President of Communications, The Wine Institute - a California industry organization representing more than 1,000 wineries