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OJ Prices Rise on Import Concerns

WASHINGTON — The price of orange juice futures headed up this week as commodity traders responded to concerns that a probe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will tighten supplies in the U.S.

On December 28, a juice company notified the FDA that it had discovered Carbendazim, a fungicide that is banned for use on citrus trees in the United States, in one of their competitor’s products.

The fungicide was detected in the low “parts per billion” range, and both the FDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have concluded that consumption of orange juice containing carbendazim at levels this low would not raise safety concerns.

The FDA said this week that it has decided to temporarily test and hold all imported orange juice for the presence of carbendazim. These holds, along with concerns about the size of Mexico’s crop, could keep futures prices high and volatile in the near term, unless production from Florida is better than expected, an analyst told The Washington Post.

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