VietNamNet Bridge – The public is outraged that the though HCM City Department of Health discovered soya sauce products with high rates of 3-MCPD carcinogen in 2001 but it didn’t report the violations until recently and thus millions of consumers have used soya sauce products with the carcinogenic substance for nearly six years.

According to Tuoi Tre Newspaper, the HCM City health agency found 3-MCPD in 15 samples of soya sauce in November 2001, which were from 23 to 5,644 times over the permitted thresholds. In December 2001, 9 out of 10 samples tested violated safety levels, including one 6,090 times over safety levels.

In 2004, the HCM City Institute of Hygiene and Public Health found 33 of 41 sample of soya sauce with high rates of 3-MCPD, including six samples with up to 11,000 to 18,000 times more 3-MPCD than permitted. In 2005, the institute continued to test 137 samples and over 100 samples containing 3-MCPD that were from two to nearly ten thousand times more than the permitted level.

In the third quarter of 2005, the HCM City Department of Health sent samples of soya sauce of 30 producers to the institute for testing and products of 20 producers found with 3-MCPD, which were from several to thousands of times more than the safe level. The HCM City Centre for Chromatography Education and Training tested 38 samples in 2005 and discovered 21 samples with 3-MCPD rates higher than the permitted threshold.

In 2006, the HCM City Institute of Hygiene and Public Health continued to detect 28 of 135 samples with high rates of 3-MCPD. The HCM City Centre for Experimental Analysis Services, the HCM City Preventive Health Centre and the HCM City Centre for Chromatography Education and Training also found many samples with high contents of 3-MCPD in 2006 as well.

All testing results are reported to the HCM City Department of Health and the Health Ministry so in 2005 the Health Ministry issued a decision on the permitted level of 3-MCPD on soya sauce and some other kinds of sauce (less than 1mg/kg).

However, till now the list of violators in 2005 and 2007 have recently made public and the remaining cases of violation in the other years are still in secret. And the HCM City Department of Health only released the information after Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung instructed the Health Ministry to order relevant agencies to timely and accurately provide verification results of food hygiene and safety to the press, including the verification of 3-MCPD.

Why didn’t the health sector reveal the information and let consumers use products with carcinogens?

At a press conference held on May 25, Deputy Director of the HCM City Department of Health, Le Truong Giang, said the Ministry of Health had not banned the toxin 3-MCPD until March 2005. He also said that several years ago HCM City didn’t have laboratories that could perform standard quality tests on such products, which led to inconsistent testing results and the department feared that if it made public the testing results, soya sauce producers could be affected unfairly.

Nguyen The Dung, Director of the HCM City Department of Health, said in an interview with Tuoi Tre Newspaper that the department was afraid that if it announces the information unlawfully, they will be sued. Is this explanation convincible?

After the media voiced the covering up of information on soya sauce testing results in HCM City in March 2007, the Health Ministry’s inspection agency requested the HCM City Department of Health to report the testing results and provide the names of violators to the media. But till May 7, the HCM City Department of Health submitted the report of its testing results of 11 soya sauce producing establishments to the Health Ministry.

The Ministry of Health has slammed the HCM City Department of Health for making a delayed announcement of the latest results.