FDA Testing Imported Orange Juice After Fungicide Detection
January 12, 2012 
Major news outlets across the country lit up on news that trace amounts of a fungicide not approved for use on citrus in the U.S. showed up in tests of orange juice from Brazil. Coca Cola, maker of Minute Made juice brand, identified the fungicide, carbendazim, in its own testing.
The company notified FDA on December 28 that it had detected the fungicide (in the low parts per billion) in its own juice and juice from a competitor from the 2011 Brazilian crop. The use of the fungicide is legal in Brazil to combat black spot, which is a major issue there and can contribute to premature fruit drop.
In a letter to the Juice Product Association, FDA noted: “In the United States, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not approved carbendazim for use as a fungicide on oranges, nor has it established a tolerance or an exemption from the need for a tolerance for carbendazim in orange juice in the United States. Thus, carbendazim in orange juice is an unlawful pesticide chemical residue under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”
The letter continued that EPA’s assessment is the juice poses no threat to public health: “The Environmental Protection Agency has conducted a preliminary risk assessment based on the recent reports of carbendazim in orange juice. Based on that risk assessment, EPA has concluded that consumption of orange juice with carbendazim at the low levels that have been reported does not raise safety concerns. FDA does not intend to take action to remove from domestic commerce orange juice containing the reported low levels of carbendazim. FDA is, however, conducting its own testing of orange juice for carbendazim, and, if the agency identifies orange juice with carbendazim at levels that present a public health risk, it will alert the public and take the necessary action to ensure that the product is removed from the market.”
Citrus market watchers are concerned the media coverage of the event will cause a decrease in consumption, despite no evidence of danger to public health. Consumption declines in recent years have been blamed on high retail prices. Prices on the futures market spiked on word of the fungicide detection.
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