VietNamNet
Bridge - Mild sanctions, greedy traders
and buyers who lack knowledge of safe food are among the reasons that have
facilitated the rampant use of unsafe and even toxic food in Vietnam.
At
midnight on a day in January 2016, a specialized vehicle of inspectors of the
HCM City Veterinary Department suddenly approached Nam Phong slaughterhouse in
Binh Thanh District.
This
facility slaughters more than 1,000 pigs each night from pig farms in southern
provinces like Dong Nai and Binh Thuan to serve markets in HCM City.
The
inspectors detected 124 pigs positive for the banned substance salbutamol,
which is used to create lean meat. The substance is very toxic to human health
since it can cause cancer.
However,
in this "raid," the authorities could only make a record and impose
administrative fine on the owner of the slaughterhouse.
They
could not seize the pigs with the banned substance. The owners of the pigs made
a commitment to not slaughter the pigs until they are tested again to be
negative with Salbutamol.
In the
first 10 days of inspection in early 2016, the HCM City Veterinary Department
detected nearly 1,000 pigs contaminated with banned substances.
The
residual concentrations of banned substances in pork is hundreds to thousands
of times over the permissible level. Among the violators, some committed the
violation for the fifth time.
In this
regard, an official of the HCM City Veterinary Department attributed the high
profit as the motivation of unprincipled traders and pig breeders to use banned
substances in pig breeding.
"For
each pig bred with banned substances to create lean meat sold to the market,
the breeder earns profit of about a million VND ($50).
Sanctions
on the use of banned substance in animal husbandry was very mild, so it is not
powerful enough to deter pig breeders and traders from using toxic
substances," he said.
The legal loopholes
Auramine is used to dye
bamboo shoot to create the eye-catching yellow color.
The Chief
Inspector of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – Mr. Pham Tien
Dung - said, as stipulated by current regulations, at the time of testing, if
the pig urine is positive for banned substances, the authorities will keep all
pigs alive for further tests.
After 7
days, if the test is negative for banned substances, the authorities will allow
slaughtering of pigs.
If using
conventional testing methods, it takes 36 hours to get the results of urine
tests. The inspection agency cannot keep the pigs while awaiting the testing
results because they don’t have pigsties or cold storages. In the meantime, the
owner of the pigs sell them all.
"If
the analysis shows that the pork is contaminated with banned substances, it is
easy for the authorities, otherwise they may be sued by the pig traders or pig
breeders," Dung said, adding that in 2015 no batch of infected pigs was
culled.
Management
authorities said that food testing centers were not managed or certified by the
state so they have no grounds to handle violations.
The HCM
City Environment Department (PC49) said earlier this year the police discovered
several bamboo shoot processing establishments in District 12 using Auramine to
dye bamboo shoot to create the eye-catching yellow color.
This
substance can be easily purchased at the chemical market of Kim Bien in HCM
City at the price of VND26,000 ($1.2) a kilo.
This
chemical is mostly imported from China, which is used in paper manufacturing
and dyeing.
In a
report of Da Nang city, all seven samples of bamboo shoots tested in HCM City
contained Auramine, which can cause cancer.
Earlier
this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development added Auramine in
the list of banned chemicals. But in fact, at the cost of just VND5,000
($0.02), bamboo shoot traders can buy enough Auramine to dye 50 kilograms of
fresh bamboo shoots.
Most
bamboo shoot sellers do not know the harm of Auramine to human health. They
only know that buyers prefer to buy bamboo shoot with beautiful color.
Regarding
inspection of food traders, inspectors must inform the sellers about the
inspection five days in advance, and this is enough for traders to prepare for
the inspection.
'Weak' management agencies
Pork is processed by chemicals
to become "beef".
Another
reason behind the unsafe food is the ineffective inspection task, said Head of
the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Health Nguyen Thanh Phong. In
addition, the practices of buying and selling goods at the market, especially
mobile markets, makes it difficult for food inspection.
Tong Xuan
Chinh - Deputy Director of the Livestock Agency - said, in addition to 9 tonnes
of Salbutamol imported legally in 2015, Vietnam has a long border so the volume
of illegally imported Salbutamol is uncontrolled.
"The
number of newly-created antibiotics and substances in the world is about 400
substances a year so we need to update to promptly detect them," said
Chinh.
Tightening
control of unsafe food
The
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued Circular 01/2016 to
adjust some contents of Circular 57/2012. The new feature of this circular from
February 25th 2016 is that food management authorities are allowed to destroy
cattle and poultry contaminated with banned substances on the spot. Previously,
the cattle and poultry with banned substances were kept and slaughtered when
the animals no longer had residue.
"Previously,
the violators were willing to pay fine and kept breaking the rules. Now they
are both fined and their pigs are culled. They will only stop violating the
rules if they have to pay a high cost," said Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, chief
inspector of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
HCM City
authorities have agreed to establish a food testing agency in order to control
food safety in the city. However, it needs the approval of the Prime Minister.
From July
1 2016, people found guilty of the act of processing, trading and use of
illegal substances will be sentenced up to 20 years in jail.
Greedy
traders
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