The US is testing all imported orange juice after discovering unacceptable levels of a banned fungicide in juice from Brazil.
The testing comes after a US juice manufacturer found levels of fungicide carbendazim at 35 parts per billion in imported orange juice from Brazil.
According to a Reuters report, citrus futures in the US jumped by 11 per cent last week after the US Food and Drug Administration announced it would test all orange juice shipped to the country for the fungicide and bar imports where it is detected at more than 10 parts per billion.
The citrus industry in Australia could benefit if there were a US ban on orange juice from Brazil.
Speaking to the ABC, Griffith and District Citrus Growers Association president Bart Brighenti said growers in the region gearing up to harvest their valencia crops were well placed to send fruit to the US.'Realistically there's not much fruit grown on a world scale in many places, it should be a hard hole to fill and hopefully Australia should be there to fill it,' Brighenti said.
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