How Much California Wine Was Recalled After the Class-Action Arsenic Suit?

By Bea Karnes | Patch Editor

Eight-three bottles of wine on the wall, 83 bottles of wine, you can take one down and pass it around — not a single bottle was ever recalled.

More than three months after the filing of a class-action lawsuit alleging that dozens of wines contain unsafe levels of arsenic, all 83 wine labels named in the suit remain on the shelves. No wineries issued recalls, and no retailers pulled wine from store shelves.

Did you pour out your bottles in fear? Or stop buying wine?

The number one goal of the lawsuit, according to the attorneys who filed it, was to get the wines off store shelves. Rob Feldman, a spokesman for the attorneys, told Patch he and his colleagues were disappointed the wine was not recalled.

Nancy Light of the Wine Institute of California told Patch Wednesday a recall wasn’t necessary because the wine is safe. Furthermore, Light claimed, wine sales have not dropped as a result of the litigation.

“This lawsuit is patently false and has been largely ignored by consumers once they learned the facts. Wines from around the world contain trace amounts of arsenic – as do fruits, vegetables, grains, water, juice and other beverages – and do not pose a risk to consumers. The FDA has been testing the arsenic content in foods and beverages for more than 20 years and has not set a limit for wine because there is no evidence to suggest that the trace amounts put consumers at risk,” Light said.

» Which Wines? Read the full list of wines cited in the lawsuit here

Legal action is moving forward, nonetheless. The three law firms involved are recruiting consumers to take part in the litigation.

If you sign on, what can you expect? Feldman told Patch they want to force wineries to “reimburse people who have used the wine,” although he doesn’t promise full reimbursement.

The majority of wines listed in the lawsuit cost less than $10 a bottle.

» Related: Arsenic-Tainted Wine - Overkill or a Real Killer?

Arsenic is all around us. It’s found naturally in the air, soil, and water, which explains how it ends up in wine. In Canada, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario tested more than 17,500 wines from around the world, including more than 2,200 from California. Globally, 99.6 percent of wines contain 25 ppb or less of arsenic. For California, the number is 99.2 percent.

Patch Editors Renee Schiavone and Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.