Thứ Bảy, 08/07/2017, 08:47 (GMT+7)
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Fish sauce scandal: stricter discipline urged for consumer protection body

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has urged the Ministry of Industry and Trade to impose a stricter form of discipline on Vinastas, a consumer protection body under its jurisdiction, for their involvement in last year’s fish sauce scandal.

 

In October 2016, Vinastas published a report in which they concluded that the majority of fish sauce samples it tested contained the toxic substance arsenic.

But the agency failed to clarify whether the arsenic in fish sauce is the organic form found in fish, which is less harmful to health and is rapidly eliminated by the body, or the highly toxic inorganic arsenic naturally present in groundwater.

Since fish sauce produced in the traditional method contains a higher level of organic arsenic, Vinastas’s statement caused a boycott of those products, hurting the traditional fish sauce industry.

A team led by the Ministry of Health later found that none of the fish sauce samples taken for testing contained inorganic arsenic or any other heavy metals.

Vinastas was forced to post an apology on its website and correct its previous false statement while the head of the agency was disciplined by reprimand.

Last May, Vinastas was also fined VND15 million (US$660) over the incident.

But Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh said that the discipline was not strict enough given the serious violation and asked that the Ministry of Industry and Trade reconsider its disciplinary measures.

(Source: NDO)

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