Powdered coffee from the central highlands of Dak Lak Province, Vietnam's largest coffee-producing area has been found to have been tainted with soy beans and chemicals so coffee makers can boost profit.
Chemicals and artificial sweetener found at Nguyen Dinh Quang's plant
At an alleged "filthy coffee" processing plant in Hoa Khanh Commune, owned by Nguyen Dinh Quang, officials found soybeans, corn flour and barrels of chemicals, including the artificial sweetener Sodium Cyclamate.
Quang was unable to provide necessary documentation on his coffee production, but admitted he produced more than 100kg of coffee powder a day for sale. The coffee was examined and found to contain soybeans, corn flour and chemicals of unknown origin, with only 10 percent of the bulk testing as real coffee beans.
Another processor admitted to using non-coffee ingredients for nearly three-quarters of bulk weight just to break even. The production cost only reduces when corn and soybean account for over 70 percent. We have to mix dozens of chemicals to make the colour, fragrant and the foam feel real."
A processing plant owner in Tan Hoa Ward said the price of coffee beans was high and coffee powder suppliers were facing tough competition, so they resorted to using soybeans and corn flour to cut the content of real coffee.
"I have sold this type of coffee for a long time and everyone is still in good health," she said.
Chemical of unknown origin
Cao Chanh Phuong, owner of Phuong Sanh Coffee Processing Plan, said, "One kilo of coffee powder costs VND100,000 to make, and suppliers of dirty coffee powder can earn big profits even if they lower the price by half by tainting the product."
He said coffee shops were also to blame because they were prepared to pay lower prices for tainted coffee.
Some 20 processing plants have been exposed since 2013 as producing dirty coffee powder, but the practice remains endemic to the region because of the promise of high profit.
Quang's processing plant was fined VND40m (USD1,900) but soon returned to operation.
Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, chairwoman of Consumer Protection Association in Dak Lak Province, said substituting roasted soybeans and corn flour for coffee could cause cancer in consumers. Some processing plants were found to be adding quinine to the mix to increase bitterness and other chemicals to increasing foaming properties, even though such additives have been linked to skin irritation.
The Dak Lak Market Management Unit said it was difficult to deal with producers of dirty coffee because of a shortage of trained staff and testing equipment. More cooperation was needed from various government agencies in the agriculture, industry and trade and health sectors to control coffee quality.
