April 27, 2012

Vietnam's southern province detects banned substances in animal feed 

Le Minh Tri, deputy head of the provincial Department of Animal Health said that Vietnam's southern province of Dong Nai has discovered that an animal feed product of one local firm contains banned substances.

Tri, however, refused to unveil the names of the animal feed producer and the banned substances, the Nong Nghiep Viet Nam reported Thursday (Apr 26).

The department has sent the feed sample for further testing, Tri said, adding the firm has big production scale and has provided large quantity of feed to local market. Dong Nai is the province providing large volume of meat for Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding localities.

Recently Vietnamese consumers have concerned over food safety since market watchdogs found a number of pork samples containing high residues of harmful additives such as Sabutamol, Clenbutarol and Ractobamine which are banned in husbandry sector.

Tonnes of the banned substances and infested animal feed had been found in warehouses of producers and traders of animal feed and materials during past two months.

Many local consumers have turned away of pork, causing pork prices to drop sharply. Many pig raisers face difficulties in selling their products.