Chinese factory producing bean sprouts using toxic chemicals discovered

During the inspection, the Environmental Police discovered a facility producing bean sprouts using toxic chemicals….

In the early morning of May 12, the Environmental Police Department (PC49) of Binh Thuan Police coordinated with the Binh Thuan Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management to suddenly inspect and record the bean sprout production facility of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu, 43 years old, in Hoa Thang village, Ham Thang commune, Ham Thuan Bac district, which was using chemicals of unknown origin, with Chinese characters on the packaging, and bleach used to produce bean sprouts.

Here, the authorities confiscated 223 tubes of Chinese medicine and 2 kg of bleach. Mr. Ha Tan Thuong, Mrs. Thu's husband, confessed: The facility has been operating since 2010. For nearly 2 years now, due to consumer demand, he and his wife have purchased chemicals and bleach to produce bean sprouts.

The purpose of using chemicals of unknown origin is to soak the bean sprouts so that they do not root, become plump, and grow quickly. Bleach makes the bean sprouts white, beautiful, shiny, and easy to sell on the market.

Mrs. Thu's process of producing bean sprouts using chemicals is as follows: mung beans are soaked in lime, incubated for 2 days, then soaked in chemicals of unknown origin.

On the 6th day, the finished bean sprouts are soaked and bleached before being brought to market. Every day, the facility produces 100-200 kg of bean sprouts, which are mainly consumed in markets, restaurants, and eateries in the two districts of Ham Thuan Bac, Bac Binh and Phan Thiet City.

The seized chemical additives have been transferred to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to check food safety and hygiene standards and consolidate records for the police to handle violations according to the provisions of law.

According to CAND