On October 17 last year, Vinatas held a press conference to announce the results of its fish sauce survey. According to the survey, up to 104 fish sauce samples out of 150 tested failed to meet arsenic standards.
A fish sauce production facility in Vietnam
The survey showed that 95.65% of fish sauce samples had nitrogen levels above 40% and contained arsenic higher than permitted level.
The survey defined organic arsenic of Vietnam’s standard 8-2:2011/BYT as similar to inorganic arsenic which is considered to be highly toxic.
However, the information was misleading since the survey made no distinction between organic and inorganic arsenic content in fish sauce. The arsenic in traditional fish sauce surveyed was organic arsenic, which is safe for humans.
An inspection from the Ministry of Health indicated that the survey of Vinastas was sponsored by an external organisation, impartiality was not ensured as required by Article 28 of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights. The survey reliability was also questioned for its careless and inconsistent methodology and execution.
Some days later, the Health Ministry announced that all 247 fish sauce samples- randomly collected from markets and supermarkets in five provinces and cities-Hanoi and HCM City, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan -were tested and no inorganic arsenic was detected.
Vinastas has apologised to all those affected by the inaccurate survey findings and dismissed Vuong Ngoc Tuan, deputy general secretary of the association, who chaired the press conference on October 17.