Ministry of Health: Tests confirm 100% fish sauce brands are safe

• Prime Minister requests clarification on fish sauces' quality

According to the Food Safety Department under the Ministry of Health, following the direction of the Prime Minister in Official Letter No. 8568 on October 20, the Ministry of Health has established interdisciplinary inspection team composed of representatives from Ministries of Health, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other relevant agencies to inspect the observance of legislation on food safety for the production and trading of fish sauce in 5 provinces / cities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan.

100% fish sauce brands are safe.

The delegation also took 247 random samples of 210 fish sauce brands of 82 different fish sauce production facilities (with traditional method and industrial method), in the market and some supermarkets for testing.

The team did not detect any sample of fish sauce that is produced from only water and chemicals. The results are showing that fish sauce produced from fish, salt and food additives with different proportions.

In particular, in the inorganic arsenic test, Ministry of Health can’t found any sample with inorganic arsenic level exceeding the permitted limit allowed by NTR 8-2:2011/BYT of the Ministry of Health.

In addition, heavy metals including Lead, Mercury and Cadmium are within the allowable limits according to QCVN 8-2: 2011 / BYT of the Ministry of Health. There is no basis to assert a product using food additives would affect human health.

Since the primary objective is to protect the consumer's health and interests, and to ensure the legitimate business interests of the enterprise in accordance with the law, the Ministry of Health proposed the provision of information related to food safety should be ensured objectively and truthfully.