Grapefruit and Medicine - Get the Facts

If you are a Today show regular, you may have seen last week's segment about grapefruit and its possible interaction with certain medications. News stories about the Canadian study on which the Today report was based have caused some people to ask whether they can continue to enjoy the Florida grapefruit and fresh-squeezed Florida grapefruit juice they love. Because we value the health and safety of our customers, we wanted to give you the facts.

The Canadian report is not really news. A 1998 report by the same Canadian researcher reported that eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice may increase the body's absorption of certain statins, cardiac medications and other drugs. The new report increases the number of named drugs (most developed since the first report) that may have the potential to interact with grapefruit.

As reported in The Lakeland Ledger, Florida Department of Citrus director of scientific research Dan King said, "We know of no validated evidence that co-administration of grapefruit juice with a drug has caused a dangerous drug interaction resulting in 'serious adverse effects' or actual harm to a patient's health." King said statements made in the study "are unnecessarily alarming and do not correctly reflect the current state of medical and scientific understanding on this topic."

If you are concerned about the affect grapefruit may have on medications you are taking, we urge you to talk to your healthcare provider. Fortunately, you can always switch to eating fresh Florida oranges which do not interact with medicine.