Orange juice fungicide contamination scare

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJan 12 2012

The United States has temporarily halted shipments of imported orange juice from all countries and said it would destroy or ban products containing even low levels of a banned fungicide.

Concerns about the pesticide started Dec. 28 when the FDA learned that the unnamed juice company had detected low levels in its own and other products. The imports will be held while they're tested and may be sold if levels are below trace amounts, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday. The fungicide, linked in studies to a higher risk of liver tumors in animals, was found in trace amounts last month in products from Brazil, which produces almost 1 in 6 glasses of orange juice consumed in the U.S., according to CitrusBR, an export industry association. Though the chemical, carbendazim, is used on crops in many countries, it isn't approved for use on oranges in the U.S.

“We're glad they will be testing for this fungicide, but we would like there to be standards they could enforce for residue levels in food — for this chemical and others, like arsenic or lead that have been found in other juices,” said Patty Lovera, assistant director of the Washington-based Food and Water Watch, an advocacy group that works to ensure safe, accessible and sustainable food. “We think FDA needs to do more inspections of imported food, including juice,” she said.

Carbendazim is used to combat black spot, a fungus that doesn't affect taste or crop yields but makes fruits less appealing to consumers, said Brazil's grower-run Fund for Citrus Plant Protection, known as Fundecitrus. If any retail orange juice tests at 80 parts per billion or higher, the FDA “will take steps for its removal from the market,” said agency spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey. That's because products often contain a mixture of imported and domestic juice. Initial tests on Canadian shipments didn't turn up the chemical, the FDA said. Preliminary tests on three Canadian samples were negative, she said.
Americans consumed 1.2 million gallons of orange juice from the 2009-10 growing season, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The agency hasn't previously tested for the chemical because it wasn't a risk, DeLancey said. A company recently reported finding the chemical after several years of monitoring, she said.

“Brazilian orange juice is safe and always has been,” said Dan Schafer, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., which owns the Minute Maid brand. “Second, this is an issue that impacts every company that produces products in the U.S. containing orange juice from Brazil.”

Brazilian growers expressed frustration with the testing. “Our main concern is how this move will affect consumption and image of our product,” said Flavio Viegas, head of Brazil’s citrus growers association, known as Associtrus, which represents about 1,300 orange growers. “Carbendazim is widely accepted for other crops, including apples, which are consumed fresh,” he said by phone from Bebedouro, Brazil. “I don’t understand what’s the deal with frozen concentrated orange juice.”

The FDA explains the issue and its action in a news release:

“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.