By Maria Cendejas

According to NaturalNews, during the month of January 2012, the FDA held nearly 14% of imported orange juice shipments to the United States because it contained a fungicide called carbendazim, which is not approved for use in the United States.

According the US Juice Products Association, the solution is to change the regulations so that the fungicide-tainted juice can enter the country.

The federal regulatory agency began testing imported orange juice after Coca-Cola reported finding the fungicide in their Minute Maid and Simply Orange and other brands of juice.

Coke Cola and other companies sell most orange juice that includes a blend of juice from different countries including Brazil, where carbendazim is used to prevent a fungus which causes black spots on orange tree leaves. The shipments were held from Brazil and Canada.

The tests revealed that the seized juice shipments had concentrations of the fungicide at levels ranging from 10 to 52 parts per billion (ppb).

The FDA says,“The juice is safe to drink but since carbendazim is not approved for use in this country, any juice containing small amounts of it must be detained.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, which recently raised the limit of radiation exposure allowed in the US following the Fukushima disaster, said that there isn’t any health risks associated with carbendazim at concentration levels up to 80 ppb.

The Juice Products Association, predictably said, “The FDA should relax its standards for products containing the fungicide, particularly with regard to juice concentrate.”

Sadly it's an all-too-rare example of the FDA having very high standards.  It seems to be a difference rather than a trend on the part of the agency toward stricter regulations of chemicals in the food supply. The trace amounts of carbendazim is allowed in other types of food like grains, nuts and some non-citrus fruits, including apricots, bananas, cherries, grapes, peaches and pears. It is also allowed in the United States for use on apples and small amounts are present in apple juice.

The problem with the ppb measurements of toxins and industrial assurance of relative safety is that they fail to take into account the long-term health effects of drinking "safe" levels of poisons over the course of a lifetime. Also they fail to consider the possible harmful interactions between multiple toxins unleashed on people as we are bombarded with poisons in our air and our water on a daily basis, according to naturalnews.com. 

It's a fact that 90% of all fungicides are carcinogens. The arguments to lower our standards revolve around bigger profits for Big Food. At a point in the history of the planet where our pollinators such as bees and bats, are exhibiting evidence of severe illness or even population decimation, isn't it time to look at the warning of these creatures who are in effect the canaries in the coal mine of the toxic synthetic chemical world we have create.

Possibly the rejection of Brazilian fungicide-tainted orange juice will prompt growers in that country to move toward organic methods.