FDA Issues Feb 16 Weekly Update on OJ Imports and Carbendazim, Etc.
On February 16, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration issued a weekly update to the trade on its sampling of imported orange juice products that may be contaminated with the fungicide carbendazim. This update is in the form of an "add on" to a February 2 addendum to a letter to the Juice Products Association.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
FDA states that it has collected samples from 104 shipments of orange juice or orange juice concentrate. Of these, 71 shipments tested negative for carbendazim and 57 of these shipments have already been released. FDA found 24 samples that tested positive (one more than last week), and detained and/or refused these 24 shipments. Of the 24 samples, 12 were shipments from Canada and 12 were from Brazil.
(See ITT's Online Archives 12021051 for summary of February 9, 2012 update. See ITT's Online Archives 12020621 for summary of FDA's February 2 addendum to the January 9 letter to JPA, which also recapped the prior weekly updates. See ITT’s Online Archives 12012344 for summary of FDA’s January 20, 2012 update on OJ. See ITT’s Online Archives 12012029 for summary of FDA’s question and answer document on carbendazim and OJ products. See ITT’s Online Archives 12011704 for summary of FDA’s first weekly update on OJ imports and carbendazim. See ITT's Online Archives 12011221 for summary of FDA's January 9 letter to the JPA stating that it was denying entry to orange juice product imports if they contained carbendazim.)
*Corrected on 02/22/12 as sampling of imported juice from domestic manufacturers concluded with the February 2 update.