VietNamNet Bridge - The Ha Noi Market Watch has warned customers city-wide about substandard foods which have increasingly been uncovered prior to Tet (Lunar New Year).

The substandard foods include smuggled poultry, decomposed animal organs and expired sweets.

Nguyen Cong Khan, Director of the Ministry of Health's Department for Food Safety, said that consumer spending always increased prior to Tet (Lunar New Year), and substandard home-made foods and illegally-imported goods usually became more common.

Statistics from the department reported that 3.2 tonnes of poultry had been illegally imported from China, 1.1 tonnes of decomposed animal organs and 3.8 tonnes of sweets of unclear origin had been seized and destroyed within a month.

Consumers have been told not to worry about rumours that animal food or pork from China had been contaminated with Clenbuterol, said Hoang Kim Giao, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Livestock Breeding Department.

"Viet Nam does not import pork from China, instead Viet Nam exports pork into China, and animal feed imported from China faces strict inspection," Giao said.

Clenbuterol is a stimulant for the adrenal gland, regulating the growth of animals and promoting muscle growth and lipid decomposition. Pigs eating food containing Clenbuterol have more lean meat as a percentage of their body weight.

Vuong Tri Dung, deputy head of the Ha Noi Market Watch, said: "To tighten control of food hygiene and safety, the Market Watch co-operated with authorised agencies to inspect the origin and quality of sweets, wine, melon seeds and food additives." However, it firstly needs to prevent illegally-imported goods and then inspect domestic producers, he said.

Inspectors from the city's Health Department fined 494 food hygiene and safety violators over VND1.1 billion (US$56,400), and suspended from operation 152 producers without business certificates city-wide last year.

Unhygienic

The HCM City Department of Health has suspended 27 family-run food producers since last October for failing to meet food safety and hygiene regulations.

Nguyen Minh Hung, head of the Department's inspectorate, told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper that more than 350 facilities had been inspected since October and nearly 50 per cent of them were found to have flouted safety and hygiene regulations.

They were fined more than VND230 million (US$11,800), he added.

The latest closures on Wednesday were jam producers in Districts Binh Tan and 11 as they had been found to be using bleach in the production of the condiment.

"With 9.3 million family-run food establishments, it is a very difficult task to monitor safety and hygiene during the Tet period," Khan said.

Source: VNS