Orange Juice Import Ban of the Day: The FDA has placed a temporary ban on the importation of orange juice after trace amounts of a fungicide linked to liver tumors were found in OJ from Brazil.
The South American country supplies the States with 41 percent of its imported OJ.
Additionally, some domestic products have imported juice mixed in, meaning containers could be pulled off the shelf and destroyed if tests for carpendazim — a chemical not approved from use on US crops — come back positive.
The FDA promised to “take the necessary action to ensure that the product is removed from the market” if found to be dangerous. However, there is nothing much to be done about the millions of potentially contaminated gallons of OJ already consumed by Americans.
Despite the disconcerting move and the subsequent price spike, the EPA and FDA both sought to assuage fears that citizens have been exposed to harmful toxins.
“Based on monitoring data provided to EPA by FDA, the EPA has no reason to expect that residues of carbenzadim in oranges grown in Brazil would ever approach levels that would raise safety concerns,” said EPA spokesman Dale Kemery in a statement.
Test results are due back this week.
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