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VN yoghurt and jelly fail to meet EU standards
Food Hygiene and Safety Agency Deputy Head Nguyen Hung Long Tuesday said the agency received information from the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) that some batches of yoghurt and jelly imported from Vietnam in August failed to meet standards.
Specifically, the UK said that jelly produced by the Hainan International Company Limited contained banned marine algae, while jelly of the Hai Ha Confectionery Joint-Stock Company was said by the Czech Republic to contain the banned E407-Carrgeenan.
Norway reported that jelly of the Tan Quang Minh Co., Ltd contained the banned flavouring E425.
Meanwhile, two batches of yoghurt of Hatacomtech Company were said by Germany to have sodium benzoate E211, E210 benzoic acid, and E123 purple pigment.
The Food Hygiene and Safety Agency has asked local Departments of Health and related producers to verify the information.
Long said the above firms had only registered food hygiene and quality with his agency, they had not reported whether they intended to export their products or sell them at home. Vietnam’s food hygiene and safety standards for yoghurt and jelly are based on international standards. However, standards of the EU are stricter so some kinds of flavourings and chemicals used by Vietnamese companies are not on the list of permitted substances in the EU.
The above substances have not been confirmed as either toxic or otherwise. The Food Hygiene and Safety Agency will check these substances and if they are not on the list of permitted chemicals of the Health Ministry, producers will be punished.
VNN
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