After the FDA announced last week that the fungicide carbendazim was found in orange juice, PepsiCo announced that its Tropicana orange juice, is going to be made only from Florida-grown oranges.
That particular brand of juice was made from “100% Florida oranges” until 2007, when the orange crop in Florida took a hit from citrus disease, hurricane, and a freeze. PepsiCo then turned to imported oranges to help take up the slack.
Back in December 2011, Coca-Cola found carbendazim in its own and competitor’s juice products and alerted the FDA. The FDA did not release that information until January 2012.
Last week the FDA halted imports of orange juice and is testing the product before it’s released for public consumption. The government has said that the low levels of the fungicide present in some orange juice “does not represent a health threat.”
At this time, the United States allows carbendazim levels in thirty-one foods, including non-citrus fruits such as apples, grains, and nuts. You can see a list of the the most common foods that have residue of this fungicide at What’s On My Food.
