Suspend and destroy more than 100 types of functional foods that do not meet quality standards

The results of inspections of functional food production, trading and import establishments by the Food Safety Department showed that nearly 50% of the inspected establishments did not meet quality requirements.

The test samples of these products did not meet the standards announced by the importer.

According to Mr. Tran Quang Trung, Director of the Department of Food Safety, dietary supplements are always a key product group in monitoring and checking quality. The recent inspection conducted by the Department of Food Safety inspected 3,781 establishments, discovered 1,830 establishments that did not meet food safety conditions, handled 78 establishments, warned 32 establishments; fined 46 establishments; suspended the operation of 14 establishments; suspended the circulation of 105 types of products due to unsatisfactory test results or unknown origin, improper labels... In addition, 15 types of products were also destroyed due to not ensuring food safety.

Regarding the management of functional food products, since the beginning of 2014, the Director of the Food Safety Department has also issued administrative sanctions to revoke 9 quality declaration certificates; in the first 5 months of 2014, 35 establishments were fined with a total amount of nearly 700 million VND, mainly for violations in food advertising, followed by labeling and quality declaration.

Mr. Trung added that the Department currently has 26 files of products with signs of violations that are in the process of verification for strict punishment. From now until the end of the year, the inspection and examination will continue to be very drastic. In addition to checking on advertising and labeling, samples of functional foods will also be taken and tested to promptly detect products that do not meet the declared quality.

Most recently, in 18 samples of dietary supplements (imported and distributed by the World of Science and Nature Joint Stock Company) sent by the Ho Chi Minh City Market Management Department to the National Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene Testing, by the afternoon of June 25, out of 12 samples with results, 10 product samples did not meet quality standards, including the product Complebiol 4 Joints from the US, lot number 31370, which the company announced had a Glucosamine content of 250mg/tablet, but the actual test only reached 214mg/tablet. Or like the test samples of the product GENKI 9 Quee's Secrect, and GENKI 6 for women, the content of Ginseng noisde was also not found in this product as announced by the manufacturer.

Previously, the Food Safety Department discovered that this company falsely advertised the uses of 9 products, including GENKI 9 King'S Secrets; Complebiol detox for women; Complebiol detox for men; Genki Gold, Vego DHA+; Complebilo Headsup-Brain Support; Complebiol 4 Joints; Complebiol Men's; Complete Multivitamin; Genki 6 Queen's secrets.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Deputy Director of the Department of Food Safety, the most common advertising violations are advertisements with content that is not consistent with the registered advertising content, confirmed by the Department of Food Safety, advertisements that are incorrect about the target audience, ingredients, and uses. There are also cases of advertising products with similar uses or making it easy for readers to understand that they are medicines.

“Our view is to strictly handle violations of quality and advertising. The first goal is to protect consumer rights, to avoid consumers being misled by advertisements that exaggerate the effects and falsely declare the nature of the product,” Mr. Phong affirmed.

According to Dan Tri