FDA stops orange juice shipments after finding fungicide

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has detained nine shipments of orange juice from Brazil and Canada after finding traces of the fungicide carbendazim.

Carbendazim is illegal in the US but used widely in Brazil to control black spot, a type of mould that grows on orange trees.

The FDA started testing for the fungicide in January after Coca-Cola alerted the agency about low levels of fungicides in its orange juice and that of its competitors.

Most juice products made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain a juice blend sourced from other countries, including Brazil.

The EU allows 200 ppb of carbendazim in juices, and the FDA earlier said that any level of fungicide below 80 ppb poses no health risk.

The US Juice Products Association and Brazil’s CitrusBR have asked the FDA to increase the permitted levels of carbendazim for frozen concentrated juice, as the concentrate is diluted before drinking and would not exceed the limit in drinkable juice.

The FDA said that it will not allow the import of orange juice containing detectable levels of carbendazim greater than 10 parts per billion (ppb) and has decided to be stricter with imports, but it will not recall any orange juice products already available on shelves in the US.

The Brazilian juice industry said it would evaluate alternatives if the US continues to detain its juice shipments.

Brazil is the primary source of orange juice imported into the US, with annual exports amounting to 15 million gallons of concentrate, followed by Mexico (13 million), Costa Rica (5 million) and Belize (2 million).

Canada, which accounts for less than 1% of US imports, does not grow its own oranges and, according to traders, the detained Canadian juice was also sourced from Brazil.