Orange Juice Ban Placed On Imported Products

By: Pat Prescott
01/12/2012 07:13 PM ET

Orange Juice – A halt on all imported shipments on orange juice has been put in place by US regulators, because of a shipment found to contain a prohibited fungicide.

The FDA is also running a check on orange juices that are already in US markets. The FDA said if they find that any imported orange juice on store shelves contain the fungicide that they will, “take the necessary action to ensure that the product is removed from the market.”

FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey, added that if any tainted juice is found to be already on sale “the agency will inform the public.”

A shipment, last month from Brazil, was found to contain the prohibited fungicide, carpendazim, that has been found to increase the risk of tumors in the livers of animals.

Though carpendazim is still widely used in many other countries it is banned to be used on any crops intended for the US.

The Minute Maid brand is owned by the Coca Cola Co. and company spokesman said in an e-mail to Bloomberg that, “The “test and hold” policy extends to all juice imports, not only those from Brazil and the FDA doesn’t believe levels reported so far pose a public health risk,”

He also wrote, “Brazilian orange juice is safe and always has been, Second, this is an issue that impacts every company that produces products in the U.S. containing orange juice from Brazil.”

Source: Orange Juice