News

FDA taking a closer look at imported OJ

The Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to the orange juice industry on Monday saying it is going to step-up testing for a fungicide. The agency says an unnamed juice company notified FDA in late December that it had detected low levels of carbendazim in some of its orange juice as well as some of its competitor’s juice.

Carbendazim is used to fight blossom blight and black spot molds on orange trees, it is not approved for use on citrus in the U.S. but is legal in Brazil. A number of U.S. companies import Brazilian oranges for juice.

The FDA said in an email to Reuters that much of the orange juice tested by the company did not have detectable levels of carbendazim. For those that did, the levels were between 10 and 35 parts per billion. The EPA said these levels are 1,000 to 3,000 times lower than levels that would be a health concern.

In the letter to the Juice Products Association, FDA says it will begin testing orange juice shipments at the border and will detain any that contain any traces of the fungicide. The letter also asks the industry to ensure suppliers in Brazil and elsewhere stop using the fungicide.

 

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published.


 

Stay Up to Date

Subscribe for our newsletter today and receive relevant news straight to your inbox!