VietNamNet Bridge – Most street drinks have been found containing harmful bacteria, putting the health of consumers at stake, heard a workshop held by Healthplus magazine and the Vietnam Association of Functional Foods on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Healthplus in collaboration with the Center for Evaluation and Conformation under the Vietnam Institute of Dietary Supplements (VIDS) of the Ministry of Health collected random samples of common street drinks such as iced tea, sugarcane juice and corn milk for testing.

The majority of these samples were found containing harmful bacteria. All of them had B.cereus and 90% were infected with E.coli.

About 33% of the samples had an aerobic bacteria content exceeding the permitted level, another 33% contained heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium, while  some 45% had more fungi than allowed, said Ho Ba Do, deputy head of VIDS.

B.cereus is known as one of the causes of food poisoning. Meanwhile, E.coli may cause acute poisoning and give a higher chance of intestinal disease and diarrhea, he said.

Nguyen Thi Lam, deputy director of the National Institute of Nutrition, said street drinks, including bottled ones with unclear origins, might have toxic components, causing hepatic and renal impairment, cell aging, fatigue and even cancer.

Le Van Truyen, vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of Functional Foods, said the testing results gave the community a warning of street beverage safety. Authorities should use these results to raise people’s awareness of the risks posed by street drinks in particular and street food and beverage in general.

Source: SGT