Huiyuan et al trapped fungicides experts said the standard is not the higher the better

Recently, two major beverage companies in the United States, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, issued a statement, announcing that they discovered in their self-inspection that their branded orange juice contains trace amounts of bactericide carbendazim, which are sourced from raw orange juice imported from Brazil. Medical research shows that carbendazim increases the risk of liver cancer in animals.

It is understood that about 75% of orange juice in China depends on imports, and Brazil accounts for half of them. Xinhua News Agency reported that in 2011, Brazil exported orange juice (66° sugar content) to China to 53,952 tons, accounting for 4.67% of the total export share. In addition, the top three Brazilian orange juice importing countries (regions) are the European Union (68.04%), the United States (14.51%), and Japan (6.10%).

According to the statistics of the Shanghai Customs Department, the imported orange juice related products from the port of Brazil last year reached more than 20,000 tons, and some of them were transferred from other logistics companies to other provinces and cities. Related data shows that companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, Huiyuan, and Nongfu Spring have records of imported orange juice products from Brazil. So, is orange juice in our market still safe?

Will Huiyuan be the next cancer-causing Mengniu?

Zhou Wei, a microblogging accredited source for “reputable current commentator”, broke the news on the 15th and said: “Carbendazim has a high risk of causing liver cancer. There is a problem with American orange juice. China has no problem. In fact, industry insiders informed that China is The fourth largest importer of Brazilian orange juice, and the pesticide carbendazim, are commonly abused by Chinese fruit growers. Huiyuan Juice holds more than 50% of the domestic market share."

Huiyuan Group and Japan Marubeni Corporation signed a strategic cooperation agreement According to relevant information, Huiyuan has imported orange juice from Brazil and other places. "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported in July 2011 that Marubeni Corporation of Japan announced cooperation with Huiyuan Juice Group to supply Huiyuan with orange juice and grape juice from Brazil and other places. Zhu Xinli, chairman of Huiyuan Group, said that with the cooperation of Marubeni Corporation, Huiyuan will obtain more stable and high-quality raw materials.

Globalcom Finance called Huiyuan Group on the orange juice incident and has not yet received a reply as of the time of the press release.

Propaganda: The product of the “Planter Orchard” fruit and vegetable juice beverage produced by the Brazilian pedigree products without indicating the origin of orange juice is “Orange: Produced in Brazil. It is fertile with abundant sunshine in the four seasons, abundant precipitation, and is known as the world's high-quality orange. One of the places of production."

The major beverage giant orange juice products are proof from Brazil. In its brand introduction, Unite Orange said in its brand name "Choose the best orange juice source in the world - Brazil imported orange juice", and the "Plant Orchard" fruit and vegetable juice drink marketed by Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd. listed in 2003 called "Orange: Produced in Brazil." The area is fertile, with abundant sunshine in four seasons and abundant precipitation, and it is regarded as one of the world's high-quality orange producing areas." Master Kong's daily C orange juice drinks emphasized in the propaganda that the raw material is "a brazilian fresh orange."

Although the domestic brands of these juices highlighted in particular the use of orange juice from Brazil, almost none of the bottled orange juice products will list their source of orange juice but only the factory address.

Standard: China is less than Europe and the United States does not have a clear standard detection standards According to reports, the United States Environmental Protection Agency established orange juice residues in carbendazim standards, 80ppb (billion parts per billion), within this range does not pose a threat to human health . It is reported that the EU standard is 200ppb, while Australia's standard is not more than 10ppb.

China's Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture jointly issued the "Maximum Residue Limits for Carbendazim in Foods" on January 2, 2011, and it was implemented on April 1 of that year. The maximum residue limit for citrus was 5 mg/kg, watermelon 0.5 mg/kg, and leek 2 mg/kg. The standard unit for citrus residues is 5000 ppb, which is far below the European and American standards. In response, Yang Xiaobing, a researcher at the Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, said in an interview with the media that although the toxicity of the pesticide "carbendazim" is not strong, the half-life is as long as 20 days and the amount and species should be limited, but China is now ubiquitous. Abuse problem. "This drug was imported from abroad and it has only been controlled in recent years. The problem is very serious because the test standard is not clearly defined."

Experts: Food safety standards are not as high as possible. Dean Luo Yunbo of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University said in an interview with the Global Network Financial Reporter that food safety standards are not necessarily the higher the better, and should not be measured simply by the level of data. . If the detection standard is too high, the cost will increase accordingly, which may cause unnecessary waste of resources.

He believes that it is also not possible to single-mindedly consider that China's food safety standards are generally lower than those of foreign countries. For example, in the United States, "Clenbuterol" is allowed, while it is strictly prohibited in China. The most important thing is to consider all sorts of comprehensive factors and find a suitable standard to ensure that people can eat reliable food.

The content of carbendazim in Brazilian orange juice does not exceed the standard of Chinese fruit. Any assistant professor of the nutrition and food safety department of the College of Food Science and Technology of China Agricultural University stated on Weibo that “carbendazim is not listed as a pesticide that can be used in the United States, that is to say the United States There is no limit standard for carbendazim, while other countries allow the use of carbendazim, Brazil's orange juice carbendazim content of 10-15 micrograms / Kg, no more than the standard of our fruit (500 micrograms / Kg).".