Although the Government has ordered the removal and revision of unreasonable rules on food fortification with micronutrients, the Ministry of Health has been slow to act.

A representative of Acecook speaks at the workshop on food fortification in HCMC on June 25

At a workshop on the impact of enhancing the micronutrient content in food on June 25, food processors pointed out a slew of problems when observing these unreasonable rules. The workshop was organized by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, the Food Transparency Association, the Food and Foodstuff Association of HCMC (FFA) and the Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association.

The Government last month issued Resolution 19/2018, instructing the repeal of regulations requiring salt used for food processing to be fortified with iodine and wheat flour used for food processing to be fortified with iron and zinc, as laid down in Decree 09/2016/ND-CP. The regulations have fielded severe reactions from enterprises and business associations.

FFA President Ly Kim Chi noted that the workshop’s organizers would write to the Prime Minister, urging the Ministry of Health to amend Decree 09 in the spirit of Resolution 19. The requirements should be removed, and food producers should be encouraged to enhance the micronutrient content on an optional basis instead, she added.

According to Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of HCMC’s Food Safety Management Board, the Ministry of Health is buying time as it is temporarily not inspecting the declarations of nutritional content on products using iodized salt. However, an official decree needs to be issued urgently to provide enterprises with a legal guideline to follow.

A representative of instant noodles producer Acecook Vietnam said the company’s business activities were experiencing difficulties in complying with the regulations of Decree 09.

In particular, Acecook products, which have been exported to 40 countries, were once produced on a single line, but now, they have to be separated, as many importing countries ban iron and zinc in food products, while local rules require this addition.

The firm has thus resorted to hiring more workers to work on its export products. Besides this, the section storing wheat flour supplemented with iron and zinc, used for the domestic market, must be kept separate from the section storing other kinds of wheat flour. This has resulted in increased costs and lower competitiveness for the firm.

Bui Phuong Mai, general director of Vifon, noted that besides wheat flour, her company is having difficulty with seasoning powder. The firm has purchased salt containing iodine to produce its products, but iodine evaporates after two to three months. She expressed concern over culpability if the inspection authority does not find iodine in the products months after they have left the factory.

According to representatives of the participating associations, they have frequently traveled between HCMC and Hanoi to attend several meetings and present their viewpoints. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has also told the Ministry of Health multiple times to revise documents related to Decree 09, but things are progressing slowly.

SGT