BACK TO FLORIDA ORANGES FOR TROPICANA ORANGE JUICE

Both PepsiCo which makes Tropicana orange juice, and Coca Cola Co. which makes Minute Maid orange juice have found traces of that nasty fungicide, Carbendazim, in their juice. Bad news for the two companies (their stock price suffered) but good news for Florida orange growers.

As we know by now, Carbendazim is used in Brazil to combat black spot and blossom blight on orange trees, and the inclusion of orange juice from Brazil in Tropicana and Minute Maid products was the cause of last week's problems (see previous posts). The use of this fungicide has not been permitted on U.S. oranges in recent years. But reportedly trace amounts of it are allowed in some 31 other foods such as non-citrus fruits, nuts and grains.

The amounts of the fungicide found in the orange juices were not high - but high enough to upset the FDA, and to upset a lot of Americans who drink orange juice every day. And it's not just Americans. I have heard from people in other countries are also concerned. After all, these are global corporations.

The end result: a return to Florida oranges. PepsiCo Inc announced today that it is returning to using only Florida oranges in its Tropicana Pure Premium orange juices. (It had used 100% Florida oranges until 2007). The company claims it made this decision several months ago, even before low levels of this fungicide were found in oranges from Brazil - and, in its juice. The transition is already under way and will be completed by the end of the month.

I think I'll buy PepsiCo stock when the market opens tomorrow. Or, maybe I shouldn't - a California woman is already suing her Tropicana for not being pure enough!

To your good health,

TSF

IS IMPORTED FOOD LESS SAFE?

More and more of the food eaten in the United States comes from other countries - about 150 of them. The Food and Drug Administration alone - and it is not the only agency in charge of making sure the imported food is safe - was responsible for some 24 million food shipments in 2010. (I don't have the 2011 statistics yet). Out of these, only about 3,500 shipments were rejected because they were unsafe. So how safe is the rest of the imported food that passes through our more than 320 ports and reaches our stores and out tables?

The recent Brazilian orange juice scare (see previous 2 posts) has U.S. consumers worried. But it actually was just one of a number of recalls of imported food in the last few months due to contamination of one kind or another.

We had several problems with Canadian imports (such as cheeses, deli meats), with seafood from Asia, olives from Italy, celery seeds from Egypt, pinenuts (probably grown in Turkey, but possibly processed elsewhere), various processed foods - such as bean curd - that came from China, and as usual, vegetables and herbs from Mexico. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.

In theory, all U.S. imported food products have to meet the same safety standards as domestically produced food. But this is difficult for a number of reasons (discussed much more in The Safe Food Handbook).

In recent years, more and more of these imported products originate in developing nations and newly industrialized countries. The food growing environment is sometimes - though not always - highly contaminated. In addition, frequently such countries have more risky production, harvesting, transport, storage and processing practices (detailed more in the book). And it is not just practices - the road and power infrastructure is often weak, equipment is old and in poor repair , and farm and plant workers are not just poorly educated but often also carriers of various pathogenic bacteria and parasites.

Yes, food is inspected before it leaves, and even the overseas food plants themselves are supposed to be inspected by the FDA and USDA - but who has the money to do this frequently and properly? As for inspection when the food arrives - after travelling thousands of miles, during which organisms such as bacteria can multiply - well, we know the answer by now. Roughly about 1.5% of imported food is inspected by the FDA at this time. Imports are going up and the inspection rate is unfortunately going down. So don't be surprised if some nasty pesticides, bacteria and other things gets through.

To your good health,

TSF

IS OUR ORANGE JUICE TOXIC?

I keep telling my husband that juice isn't nearly as healthy as he thinks it is. He keeps religiously drinking his 2 glasses of processed juice every day, and I eat fresh oranges instead (off the trees I have planted in the garden). Maybe now he will believe me.

And it's not just a nutritional issue. Orange juice has recently hit the food safety headlines. The focus is on a fungicide called carbendazim which is used to fight blossom blight and black spot, a type of mold that grows on orange trees - as well I know. I have problems with this mold every year - not just on my orange trees, but also the lemon, grapefruit and lime trees. Unfortunately, there is also some evidence to show that carbendazim may be linked to increased rates of cancers and infertility - like many pesticides. That is, if you are exposed to it in sufficiently large quantities over a long-enough period of time.

Carbendazim is widely used in Brazil - the world's top exporter of orange juice. In the past few years more of this fungicide is being used on Brazilian orange crops because black spot has become a major problem. Of course, traces of it end up in the juice. What do you expect? No washing of oranges is really good enough.

If you drink U.S. orange juice you are likely to be safe from it because this fungicide has been banned in the U.S. since 2008. In fact, most of U.S. orange juice is made from domestic oranges from Florida. However, brands such as Tropicana, from PepsiCo Inc, and Minute Maid, from Coca-Cola Co., may use a mix of juices sourced from Brazil (which is our top external supplier) and/or Mexico, and the United States. In fact, I found the news early this morning while researching Coca-Cola stock, wondering why it was down quite heavily. That explained it.

So how much of this pesticide in our juice is too much, given that many Americans drink a glass of orange juice every morning? Opinions vary and so do standards among different countries. Surprisingly, the EU allows quite high levels (up to 200 ppb). In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ramped up testing for carbendazim in imported juices and also quarantined any imported orange juice that's on its way here, until we find out more.(It seems that at least some juice from Canada has been cleared, since levels were found to be very low).

Meantime, the orange juice futures traders are keeping busy with the ups and downs in price (it's a small and volatile market).

To your good health,
TSF