Federal regulators say low levels of fungicide in orange juice aren’t enough to cause safety concerns.
The Environmental Protection Agency says it won’t order that juice be taken off store shelves. Coca-Cola says it informed the EPA about levels of carbendazim in its juice and that of its competitors.
The government has issued a warning the pesticide, and is testing juice at ports and processing plants.
The FDA says it found the pesticide carbendazim, which is used to kill fungus in orange groves. It’s not approved in the U.S. but is used around the world.
In high levels, the chemical has been linked to reproductive problems in animals. They say the levels they found do not pose problems to humans.The government has issued a warning about an unapproved chemical found in batches of orange juice.
In a letter to a trade organization, FDA Food Safety Director Nega Beru said that, based on a 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.”