--- description: Among the wines: Franzia White Grenache, Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck White Zinfandel title: Your Cheap Wine Might Be High in Arsenic image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [food and drink](/tag/food-and-drink/) ## food and drink Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Your Cheap Wine Might Be High in Arsenic by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2015 12:41 AM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2015 12:41 AM CUT A class action lawsuit in California claims there are high levels of arsenic in some varieties of low-cost wine. The lawsuit says wines including Franzia White Grenache, Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck White Zinfandel, and Menage a Trois Moscato had between three and five times the amount of arsenic the Environmental Protection Agency allows in drinking water. Arsenic is a known carcinogen that can lead to other serious health problems. According to [_CBS News_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawsuit-claims-high-levels-arsenic-found-some-california-made-wines/ "undefined"), which first reported the story on Thursday, a laboratory analyzed over 1,300 bottles of wine and found nearly one in four had arsenic levels higher than the EPA permits in water. The laboratory found cheap wines had the highest levels of arsenic. The lawsuit accuses more than 24 winemakers of having unsafe wine. Wine is not regulated by the federal government, and the Wine Group, which distributes Franzia wine and is named in the lawsuit, told [_CBS_ ](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawsuit-claims-high-levels-arsenic-found-some-california-made-wines/ "undefined")comparing wine to water is misguided because most people consume more water than wine. Treasury Wine Estates, another company named in the lawsuit, said its “brands are fully compliant with all relevant federal and state guidelines.” Trader Joe’s said in a statement they are “investigating the matter with several of our wine producing suppliers.” The lawyer filing the suit said his ultimate goal is to get the wines recalled, get companies to distribute refunds and “ultimately clean up the wine industry in California.” \[[_CBS News_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawsuit-claims-high-levels-arsenic-found-some-california-made-wines/ "undefined")\] _Read next:_ [_Calorie Count Coming Soon to a Can of Guinness Near You_](http://time.com/3752518/diageo-calorie-count/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3751973/cheap-wine-arsenic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3751973/cheap-wine-arsenic/"},"headline":"Your Cheap Wine Might Be High in Arsenic","datePublished":"2015-03-20T00:41:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:18:36.611Z","description":"Lawsuits claims Franzia and Trader Joe wines contained high levels of the known carcinogen","url":"https://time.com/3751973/cheap-wine-arsenic/","keywords":["food and drink","Courts","justice","Food and Beverage"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/food-and-drink/","name":"food and drink"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3751973/cheap-wine-arsenic/","name":"Your Cheap Wine Might Be High in Arsenic"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Should I Drink Red Wine?","description":"Cheers to your health! 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