Blog for all health-conscious: Fooducate Blog - Mommy, Why is There Fungicide in My OJ?

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Fooducate Blog - Mommy, Why is There Fungicide in My OJ?

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 04:41 AM PST

image: popsugar.com

The FDA is halting imports of orange juice this week. The reason: a potential for contamination with a fungicide called carbendazim. Carbedazim is used to prevent mold on oranges in various countries, but has not been approved for use on oranges in the US. High dosages of carbendazim have caused infertility and damage to testicles in lab animals.

We import about a quarter of our OJ, and a batch from Brazil somehow got contaminated with tiny yet detectable amounts of carbendazim. This comes on the heels of the recent apple juice / arsenic scare and brings front and center a growing problem in our food supply. As more ingredients and finished products are sourced from countries with lax food safety regulations, the higher the chances we will encounter issues such as this.

Unfortunately, the FDA does not have enough resources to manage this. The only reason they learned about this fungicide, is because it was tipped by one of the juice companies.

And for us discerning consumers, there is just no way to know where the ingredients in our food are sourced from. The country of origin labeling law (COOL) does not apply to most packaged foods.

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