VietNamNet Bridge – None of the samples of pork and pig organs sold in HCM City's markets contained clenbuterol and salbutamol, the lean-meat additives banned in breeding animals, the HCM City Department of Food Hygiene and Safety announced this morning, May 17.

No cause for worry on pork quality in market: Ministry
Four per cent of pork has banned additives

Between April 16 and 21, the department took 24 samples of pork and pig organs from supermarkets, traditional markets and temporary markets for testing.

The department said it would inspect the use of this substance in the markets in the upcoming time.

The department also suggested that pork containing lean-meat additives usually have abnormally bright red colour.

The use of banned substances, including clenbuterol and salbutamol, in breeding animals is the cause of excessive amounts of beta-agonists in pork and pig organs. Those who digest this contaminated meat will suffer from dizziness, shortness of breath, shakiness and vomiting.

Last March, the authorities found contaminated samples of pork in two farms in southern Binh Duong Province. Each was fined VND25 million (US$1,200) and required to use a new kind of animal feed.

* No formaldehyde found in cabbages

Viet Nam has not found any signs of formaldehyde-tainted cabbages following recent reports of contaminated cabbages in China, agriculture officials said yesterday, May 16.

Director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry's Plant Protection Department Nguyen Xuan Hong said no traces of the dangerous chemical were found after the ministry conducted a thorough inspection on imported fresh vegetables and fruit.
The inspection was prompted by the news that Chinese authorities had found locally-grown cabbages sprayed with a formaldehyde solution, a toxic cancer-causing compound, to keep them fresh in transit.

The spraying was carried out at all border gates, including Lang Son, Lao Cai, Mong Cai and HCM City and Hai Phong ports, where Chinese vegetables are usually brought into Viet Nam.

The ministry's check found that Chinese cabbages were mainly imported through the Tan Thanh Border-gate in northern Lang Son Province.

But the ministry also said limited amounts of Chinese cabbages were brought to Viet Nam since March. The largest volume of cabbages imported were reported between November and March, the main harvest season in China every year.

Inspection on cabbages grown in the country's Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands or in the northern mountain province of Lao Cai also failed to reveal any traces of the dangerous solution.

Another food safety inspection campaign carried out by the ministry between January and April indicated 71 out of 315 farming products' samples had chemical residue, but the levels were within legal limits. Most notably, a pear sample from China contained endosulfan, a substance banned in Viet Nam.

Deputy agriculture minister Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu urged for joint efforts among various forces to prevent the import of unhygienic and dangerous food.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News