Thuy Dung
The agency made the confirmation after a number of Australians were reported to be infected with the virus after eating the frozen berries packed in China and distributed in Australia by Patties Foods. The products said to be contaminated with the virus are Nanna’s Frozen Mixed Berries and Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries.
As reported by Australian media, the food safety authorities of that country have requested recalls.
After the incident in Australia, the department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development launched inspections
into the products but has found none of the products on the local market.
The department said Chinese frozen fruits are imported into Vietnam through Cat Lai Port in HCMC only. Vietnam does not import large volumes of frozen fruits and veggies due to low demand as Vietnamese consumers prefer fresh products.
Last year, the country imported only 125 tons of frozen fruits and has bought 35 tons of frozen fruits in the year to date. Domestic companies mostly import frozen cherries and raspberries from the northern neighbor to use as ingredients for their products.
The frozen products do not include Nanna’s Frozen Mixed Berries or Creative Gourmet Berries, and Patties Food does not sell frozen fruits to Vietnam, the department’s head Nguyen Xuan Hong said.
Le Son Ha, another official from the department, said Vietnam conducts food safety tests in line with international criteria and will apply special control measures to suspected cases and violations.
For example, when caramel apple products imported from the United States were found to be contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes in January, the department checked all the apple products imported from the U.S., Ha said.
The department will inspect frozen fruits imported from China at border gates and follow the advisories by other countries.
Đăng ký: VietNam News