VietNamNet Bridge – Illegal food additives are flooding the market but imposing a clamp-down would be no mean feat, says deputy head of the Food Safety and Hygiene Administration Nguyen Thi Khanh Tram.

She said many small-sized manufacturers used industrial additives instead of food additives to reduce costs, while ignoring the fact that they contained a high mixture of impurities and heavy metals.

Le Thi Hong Hao, deputy director of the National Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene Tests, said a large number of manufacturers used higher proportions of additives than permitted. Seventeen out of 30 samples of dried melon seeds were tested positive for the carcinogenetic substance Rhodamine B, with content ranging from 4.9mg to 146.56mg per kg.

Rhodamine B was also detected in 27 out of 30 samples of powdered red pepper, from 20.2 to 110.2 mg per kg.

Phan Thi Suu, director of Technical Centre for Food Safety, said an investigation into nine food colours extracted from 203 food samples showed that 100 per cent of samples of blue, purple and pink colours were not on the permitted list.

Director of the administration Nguyen Cong Khan said another factor was the inefficient anti-smuggling work, which could have intercepted additives at bordering provinces. He said: "If 5kg of illegal food additives are successfully imported into Viet Nam, the presence of those additives will be found in tens of millions of meals."

Tram said in the meantime, besides regular inspections, the Food Safety and Hygiene Administration would seek a stronger commitment from enterprises not to use the hazardous substances. After July 1, when the Law on Food Safety comes into effect, the Minister of Health will be responsible for managing the production, sale and use of food additives.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News