Pepsico finds dangerous fungicide in Orange Juice- Tropicana
Filed under: Dangerous Foods, Fungicide, Germs and Cleaniness Tips, Is it Safe?
(Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc said company tests of its Tropicana orange juice showed low levels of a potentially dangerous fungicide, but levels were below federal safety concerns and did not pose a health risk. Article continues after question.
***What is a fungicide anyway?***Wiki
Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores.[1] Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality and profit. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals. Chemicals used to control oomycetes, which are not fungi, are also referred to as fungicides as oomycetes use the same mechanisms as fungi to infect plants.[2]
Fungicides can either be contact, translaminar or systemic. Contact fungicides are not taken up into the plant tissue, & only protect the plant where the spray is deposited; translaminar fungicides redistribute the fungicide from the upper, sprayed leaf surface to the lower, unsprayed surface; systemic fungicides are taken up & redistributed through the xylem vessels to the upper parts of the plant. New leaf growth is protected for a short period.
Most fungicides that can be bought retail are sold in a liquid form. A very common active ingredient is sulfur,[3] present at 0.08% in weaker concentrates, and as high as 0.5% for more potent fungicides. Fungicides in powdered form are usually around 90% sulfur and are very toxic. They are also found in Coke products, including juices like Simply Orange and Minute Maid Orange juice. The oranges from Brazil were sprayed with fungicides by the farmers. Cola-Cola Co. said Wednesday (1/11/12) it found an unapproved fungicide in orange juice made by Coke and its competitors, and alerted federal regulators that some Brazilian growers had sprayed trees with the substance. The beverage giant, which makes Simply Orange and Minute Maid, would not say which brands had shown the fungicide. Both brands contain juice from Brazil.
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The company said in a statement on Saturday it was conducting additional tests after the Food and Drug Administration announced on Wednesday that it would temporarily halt orange juice imports and remove any juice found to have dangerous amounts of the fungicide carbendazim.
The scare was triggered when soft-drink giant Coca-Cola Co, maker of Minute Maid orange juice, said it had discovered carbendazim in shipments from Brazil and alerted U.S. authorities about a potential industry-wide problem.
Carbendazim is used in Brazil to combat blossom blight and black spot, a type of mold that grows on orange trees.
But in the United States, its use is limited to non-food items such as paints, textiles and ornamental trees, although U.S. authorities allow trace amounts of carbendazim in 31 food types including grains, nuts and some non-citrus fruits.
The FDA said low levels of carbendazim are not dangerous and the agency had no plans for a recall.
“The results we have to date confirm that the levels of fungicide in the imported Brazilian juice we tested are below the levels the agencies said raise safety concerns,” PepsiCo said. “We will continue to test, as we take this matter seriously, and we’re working aggressively to address any concerns.”
Orange juice futures prices hit record highs on the fungicide reports, then declined.
On Friday, U.S. health regulators cleared the way for the first shipments of imported orange juice to enter the country since January 4, when authorities began testing for the fungicide in juice products from Brazil.
The FDA said final tests confirmed that three samples of Canadian orange juice were negative for the fungicide carbendazim. Test results have yet to be announced for 28 import samples from Brazil, Mexico and Canada.
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