Keurig Dr Pepper Pulls Bottled Water From Shelves After High Levels Of Arsenic Discovered

Keurig Dr Pepper announced Friday it will voluntarily withdraw Peñafiel mineral spring water from store shelves over arsenic contamination concerns.

Keurig Dr Pepper is removing Peñafiel from shelves in Walmart and Target and customers are being offered a full refund for any product they possess, USA Today reported.

“Water quality tests of Peñafiel samples conducted by an independent laboratory on behalf of Keurig Dr Pepper detected arsenic at levels that exceeded the [Food and Drug Administration’s] bottled water standards for mineral water of 10 [parts per billion],” according to a company announcement. (RELATED: Feds Poison A River With Lead And Arsenic, Still Won’t Protect Locals)

The Center for Environmental Health released in June its discovery of “high levels of the toxic metal arsenic in Starkey Water, owned by Whole Foods, and Penafiel, owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, bottled in Mexico and sold at Target.”

However, this may not be the first discovery of arsenic in Peñafiel water. “The Food and Drug Administration learned about high levels of arsenic in a brand of bottled water owned by Keurig Dr Pepper as early as 2013,” according to Consumer Reports in April. It drew this conclusion after obtaining FDA documents via the Freedom of Information Act.

Although arsenic is a naturally occurring chemical commonly found in groundwater, ingesting too much can have dire consequences. “Arsenic poisoning can cause major health complications and death if it is not treated,” according to Medical News Today.