January 27, 2012
The Food and Drug Administration says it has detained several shipments of imported orange juice after finding traces of an illegal fungicide.
The government says the residue is still far below dangerous
levels and says the juice is safe to drink.
The FDA says it has detained about 11 percent of orange juice
imports since it started testing earlier this month. All the
shipments were from Brazil and Canada.
The fungicide is Carbendazim. It's not currently approved for
oranges in the U.S., but it's used to fight mold in other
countries. The FDA started testing after Coca-Cola-owned Minute
Maid reported finding the chemical in its own juice and competing
juices.
