CHICAGO - 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.
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 US 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 US
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, US 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.
P.J. Huffstutter
AsiaOne
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