Lotus jam dyed with industrial colorants
To preserve dried lotus seeds from termites, the owner of a processing facility in Ninh Hiep commune, Gia Lam district (Hanoi) sprinkles a chemical banned from use in food - aluminum sulfate; to make the jam yellow, they dye it with industrial dyes.
Industrial dyes were seized in the lotus jam processing area.
Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Duc Dan - officer of Team 4 of the Environmental Crime Prevention Police Department - Hanoi City Police said: In early January 2013, scouts of Team 4 discovered that Phuong Vui facility (village 8, Ninh Hiep commune, Gia Lam district) - specializing in producing lotus jam - was violating food safety regulations. "We determined that during the production of lotus jam, the facility used industrial dyes to dye the product yellow, creating beautiful designs to deceive consumers" - Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Duc Dan said.
To clarify the violations, yesterday afternoon (January 9), Team 4 of the Environmental Police Department, in coordination with Market Management Team No. 13 - Hanoi Market Management Department, inspected the compliance with food safety regulations at Phuong Vi lotus jam production facility. At the time of inspection, the working group recorded that the facility was operating, 3 workers were stirring lotus seeds in sugar water. Mr. Nguyen Khoa Phuong - the owner of the facility admitted that he did not have a Business Registration Certificate, had not been trained in food safety and hygiene, but was still granted a certificate of food safety and hygiene by the People's Committee of Ninh Hiep commune. During a physical inspection at the lotus jam production area, detectives discovered and seized many types of food additives including: colorants, flavorings of unknown origin. “Delicious lotus jam with small seeds and low sugar shells costs VND100,000/kg and is usually grey in colour and not very attractive in appearance. This type of product is mainly produced for sale to relatives and neighbours,” said Mr. Phuong. However, because the first-class jam is expensive, consumption is quite slow.
The owner's wife, Ms. Dam Thi Vui, added: every time Tet approaches, some customers come to order the production of cheap jam, priced from only 35,000 - 45,000 VND/kg. To reduce the cost of the product, after being boiled, the dried lotus seeds will be soaked in a lot of sugar to increase their weight. Type 1 lotus seeds are only as big as the tip of the little finger, but types 2 and 3 are soaked in sugar, almost twice as big. As for type 3 (35,000 VND/kg), the lotus seeds are actually only half of the seed covered in sugar. After being boiled, incubated, and mixed with many layers of sugar, the half lotus seed will be as big and round as a marble, making it difficult for buyers to detect the "core" inside," Ms. Vui said.
According to the owner of the facility, in addition to adding sugar to increase weight and reduce product cost, in order to make grade 2 and 3 lotus seeds more shiny and attractive than grade 1, this facility sprinkled a type of yellow food coloring bought from the market. "According to the initial determination of the police, this is an industrial food coloring, containing substances that can cause cancer and are prohibited from use in food" - Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Duc Dan affirmed. Not only violating food safety regulations in processing lotus jam, the police force also discovered that this facility used aluminum sulfate chemicals to preserve dried lotus seeds from termites. "If this chemical is not used, the lotus seeds will be infested with termites after half a month" - Ms. Vui affirmed.
Regarding the signs of lotus jam that does not meet quality standards, a representative of the Environmental Police Department said: Good lotus jam is usually small, with a thin layer of sugar that allows you to clearly see the seeds inside, and is slightly gray in color. The type of lotus seeds that are bright yellow, soaked in a lot of sugar, packaged manually, and cheap... consumers should not choose because they are likely soaked in chemicals and "padded" with sugar to lower the price. At the end of the inspection, the authorities made a record of the temporary detention of all additives used to produce lotus jam of unknown origin, temporarily detained the finished lotus jam, and took samples to send to the authorities to analyze the product quality, as a basis for handling.
According to Hanoi Moi -TH
