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Soft drink company not fined for expired ingredients
Authorities have decided not to fine a local beverage maker found storing expired ingredients after investigations showed the materials were slated for disposal, not for use in the company’s soft drinks.
Nguyen Van Ban, head of the southern province of Binh Duong’s Market Management Bureau, said Tuesday that provincial authorities found nothing unsafe about Tan Hiep Phat samples they had tested.
Samples of Number 1 energy drink, Tra Xanh Khong Do sweetened green tea, Barley tea and Dr. Thanh sweetened herbal tea made by Tan Hiep Phat were found to have been made using no expired ingredients, said Ban.
Ho Chi Minh City Health Department inspectors also said the products were safe.
Ban said authorities would issue no fine against Tan Hiep Phat as it was only storing the expired ingredients with the intention to destroy them, not to use them in production.
Police earlier this month found 26 tons of expired flavor materials at the firm’s warehouse in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District. Police then found 1,200 more liters of expired ingredients at a Tan Hiep Phat storage facility in Binh Duong Province.
The company was also found to have relabeled bottles containing 6,200 kilograms of guava juice with a new expiry date of June 16, 2009 covering old labels indicating the products expired last year.
Ban said the mislabeling was violation of product management standards but that still no fine would be issued as even the re-labeled products had clearly been marked as slated for destruction. He also said foul play may have been involved in the re-labeling.
Tan Hiep Phat has asked government agencies to investigate whether or not one of the firms’ rivals maybe have covertly mislabeled the products.
Minh Quang
thanhnien
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