It's a huge annoyance for the FDA, which is fighting an uphill information war against the poisonous apple juice clan, noting that apple juice is perfectly safe and that organic arsenic is "harmless" as it is present in the air, water, food and soil we're around every day. It also disputes the testing done by The Dr. Oz Show, which claimed unusually high arsenic levels. "There is no evidence of any public health risk from drinking these juices. And FDA has been testing them for years," the agency said last week. Many other health officials have come to the FDA's side. ABC News Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser chastised Dr. Oz on Good Morning America saying "Mehmet, I’m very upset about this, I think that this was extremely irresponsible. It reminds me of yelling fire in a movie theater.”

Following the terrifying episode aired last week, even Dr. Oz has walked back, acknowledging that "no children are dying from acute lethal arsenic poisoning” and that he's merely concerned about long-term effects. OK, but what about Schumer? If we take the New York senator at his word, he's just concerned about child safety. However, the last paragraph of his Sunday press release probably points to the genuine impetus for his involvement:

Schumer pointed out that apple growers in New York and the United States do not use inorganic, arsenic in pesticides and perhaps a better option for juice makers is to use more New York grown apples in their concentrates. American farmers must comply with strict standards put forth by the EPA, USDA and FDA and produce higher quality products. “While there is no cause for alarm and no need to stop drinking juice, a good option for juice makers and families who have concerns is to buy juice made from New York produced apples, which, like apples throughout the United States, do not use pesticides with inorganic arsenic in them.”

So there's that or he just really likes sticking it to the Chinese. Which do you think it is?

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.