Thuy Dung and Vu Yen
Hoang Trung, deputy head of the department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, confirmed the origin of U.S. apples imported into Vietnam, saying local consumers should not be worried about the fruit imported into Vietnam.
As soon as news about the caramel apple products containing the deadly bacterium and supplied by Bidart Bros in California broke, the department conducted thorough inspections into all the apple products shipped into the country, Trung said.
The result showed that 35 companies have imported 17,000 tons of apples from the U.S. through Saigon Port, Haiphong Port, Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC since early last year.
The department has requested importers to check with their partners in the U.S. to see if they have bought apples and related products from Bidart Bros. They should collaborate with agencies for inspecting the imported products at their storage facilities as the product packages have information about the supplier.
So far, the department and relevant agencies have not issued food safety certificates for any batches of caramel apples from the U.S. However, the department has ordered strict checks into all the apples imported from the U.S.
Since Wednesday, importers have been required to have all batches of apples from the U.S. kept at ports for inspection and will not be allowed to sell the products to the market until the fruit gets certificates following laboratory tests, Trung said.
Officials of the department on January 22 met with the U.S. embassy in Hanoi to make clear information about the apples reportedly containing the bacterium, and steps the U.S. has taken to prevent infected products from the market.
At the meeting, the U.S. embassy said that apple products of Bidart Bros in California are contaminated with the bacterium on the packaging line for fresh apples.
As warned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety Agency of Vietnam, the products must be recalled.
The U.S. authorities have required three firms using fresh apples of Bidart Bros to process caramel apple products to recall their products from the market.
Co.opMart and Big C supermarket chains confirmed they do not sell apples supplied by Bidart Bros in California.
Lotte Mart said a company earlier introduced processed caramel apple products to this supermarket chain but it did not take for distribution due to strict storage requirements for these products.
Meanwhile, a big distributor of imported fruits said the harvest season of U.S. apples subject to recall was in June and July and now is the season for apples in Washington, D.C.
Apart from Vietnam, more than ten other countries and territories have asked their food safety agencies to check and withdraw contaminated fresh apples and caramel apples.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
