The Ho Chi Minh City market management authorities have seized more than 2.2 tonnes of dubious herbal medicines stored in two dirty, unhygienic warehouses in District 5.
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They inspected an old, poorly-lit warehouse on Trieu Quang Phuc Street and found more than 1.5 tonnes of medicines, most of which had rotted due to dampness.
The warehouse owner failed to produce invoices or certificates for them.
The inspectors also found a number of packages of caterpillar fungus that the owner said was from China.
They saw 47 boxes of this product with labels completely in Chinese on the floor which was full of rubbish and even mice and cockroaches.
Meanwhile, officials inspecting a warehouse cum herbal medicine store on Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street owned by Nguyen D.S. and his wife found 700 kg of traditional medicines without clear origins.
Tran Huu Vinh, head of the city Traditional Drugs Administration, said herbal medicines have to be stored in proper warehouses where temperature and moisture are controlled.
“The medicines will be infected with bacteria and lose quality if they are placed on the ground,” he said, adding it would be hazardous to use them.