Did the U.S. Food and Drug Administration act illegally, capriciously and arbitrarily in its treatment of imported orange juice during the carbendazim incident? 

This is the question that FDAImports.com Principal, Rick Quinn, and Associate Attorney, John Johnson, answer in their recent article published in the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Update magazine.  The article, “Imported Orange Juice Gets the Squeeze: FDA’s Illegal Treatment of Brazilian Orange Juice During the Carbendazim Incident,” clearly outlines the history of the carbendazim issue, the FDA’s inconsistent response to both domestic and foreign juices, … READ MORE

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As the FDA launches its pilot program related to tracking high-risk foods, we are once again reminded of the ongoing difficulties FDA experiences when it comes to choosing between acting quickly and acting thoughtfully.  Think back to 2011’s food safety crises involving salmonella and E. coli. On numerous occasions, FDA was last to comment, often because they didn’t want to speak out of turn and provide inaccurate information.  At other times, however, they were simply scooped by the world’s mass media who, with … READ MORE

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Benjamin England, Founder and CEO of FDAImports.com, was recently featured on Bloomberg TV’s Street Smart program regarding the safety of imported Orange Juice and FDA’s “stop and hold” policy for incoming shipments.

“The concentrations being found are extremely small, we’re talking 30 parts per billion, which is a very small concentration and so the chance of a safety problem is virtually none,” said Mr. England in the February interview.

Mr. England and his consulting firm, FDAImports.com, has … READ MORE

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Myth #1:  If FDA tests/rejects something then there must be a problem with it The FDA tests things all the time, even if there is not a problem with the shipment. The FDA uses Import Alerts, which are country or industry-wide notices that flag shipments due to prior problems, even if the problem does not actually appear in the current shipment. The FDA refuses countless shipments which might be just fine simply because they come from a region that is on Import Alert. This occurs because FDA … READ MORE

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Sources

• http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/FruitsVegetablesJuices/ucm286302.htm

• http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/FruitsVegetablesJuices/ucm287783.htm

• http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title40-vol24/pdf/CFR-2011-title40-vol24-sec180-371.pdf

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The FDA has implemented a “test and hold” policy for all incoming orange juice into the United States, looking for evidence (or not) of Carbendazim, a pesticide residue.  Yet FDA clearly states that the EPA “has concluded that consumption of orange juice with carbendazim at the low levels that have been reported does not raise safety concerns.”  So just to clarify… there are no safety concerns with the presence of Carbendazim in imported orange juice at the detected levels, but FDA has a … READ MORE

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As Orange Juice speculation drives juice futures all over the map and consumers brace for spending more on Orange Juice than gasoline per gallon, one must ask, “How is Big Juice assuaging the masses with all of this concern over orange juice?”  As any cultural connoisseur would do we look to social media, notably Facebook, for our answer.  Below are the canned responses used by the major orange juice brands in response to consumer’s questions, fear, anger and … READ MORE

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The FDA announced this week that it is implementing a “test and hold” policy for all imported shipments of orange juice to determine if they contain carbendazim (a fungicide, also called “MBC”).  Under the law, a food cannot contain a pesticide residue unless the residue has an established tolerance level for that specific food. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not established a tolerance level for carbendazim residues in orange juice.  The sudden crackdown on orange juice in particular highlights the questionable way that FDA and the EPA … READ MORE

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