Pepsi says its OJ is safe, but tainted

PURCHASE, N.Y., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. beverage giant PepsiCo Inc. announced it had found, just as Coca-Cola Co. had, a banned fungicide in its Tropicana orange juice.

Coca-Cola, which produces Simply and Minute Maid orange juice brands, said this week that it had told regulators in December of a discernible level of the fungicide carbendazim in its orange juices, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The Food and Drug Administration immediately increased testing of orange juices and said the levels of the fungicide are within acceptable levels.

Pepsi said that it had also reacted quickly to the news with increased testing of its orange juice brands. A Tropicana company spokesman said, "The results we have to date confirm that the levels of fungicide in imported Brazilian juice we tested are below the levels the agencies said raise safety concerns."

Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi import orange juice from Brazil, where the fungicide is widely used, the Journal said.

The Tropicana spokesman said testing would continue and, "we're working aggressively to address any concerns."