Recent inspections have found several samples of local chicken and some types of imported fruits and vegetables to be unsafe, and many pigs to be fed with banned substances.
Some imported fruits and vegetables were found unsafe
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Department of Agro-forestry-Fishery Quality Assurance conducted an inspection of over 9,000 packages of imported fruits and vegetables with a and almost 700,000 tonnes of 90 goods between October 30 and November 5.
Tests on 96 samples of fruits and vegetables showed that 88 of them were safe. Eight samples or just over 8% contained pesticides above the acceptable levels, including mandarin oranges, beets and carrots.
However, the department did not clarify where the samples came from. Currently, most imported fruits and vegetables to are from China.
Nguyen Nhu Tiep, director of the department, said inspection of cattle and poultry in the northern region over the past 11 months found that four out of 54 tested chickens contained campylobacter spp, one of the main causes of food borne bacterial diseases in many developed countries.
Two out of 40 tested samples tested positive for chloramphenicol and four out of 40 tested samples for furazolidon, both banned in Vietnam. Four out of 40 tested samples contained the antibiotic tetracycline above the acceptable levels.
Worries about the unsafe food is of special concern to the public as Tet nears and consumption increases.
Reports by 15 cities and provinces across the country showed that 25% of establishments that produce and trade in agricultural products were classified at level C, failing to meet requirements, but re-inspection was not widely conducted.
The ministry’s inspectorate is coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security’s Environmental Police Department (C49) to inspect some households in Dong Nai Province that have been rumoured to use beta-agonists clenbuterol and salbutamol, which is banned from usage in Vietnam, in raising pigs.
“The slow improvements in food safety are the result of the inefficient operations in branches and agencies, especially inspection forces,” Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, commented at a recent meeting on agricultural products food safety and quality.
From now until Tet, food safety will be the ministry’s first priority to ensure quality for consumers, he added.
