Carbendazim fungicide in Orange Juice
- Saturday, 14 April 2012
Carbendazim is a broad-spectrum fungicide widely used around the world to control fungal diseases in crops. Traces of carbendazim have been found in orange products imported from Brazil to the USA, where carbendazim spraying is banned.
Agrifood Technology was approached by importers to test for carbendazim in imported orange juice from Brazil, using sophisticated Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometer instrumentation to reach extremely low detection levels.
Australia imports 32,000 tonnes of frozen concentrate orange juice annually, two-thirds of which comes from Brazil. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) are completing a review of the use of carbendazim in the Australian agricultural sector.
