The Ministry of Health's Department of Food Safety has warned consumers in Vietnam to be cautious of buying food testing kits as many of them were not licensed by the authorities.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) body for food safety said on Monday that in the recent days some products of quick test kits for food advertised on websites maydoantoanthucpham.net and maydothucpham.com were fake, imitated or exaggerated over their licences.
The authority said that such products were not licensed by any authority or under management of any companies as it said on the label.
Food safety remains an unsolved problem in Vietnam, especially during Tet holiday, experts said, warning that more and more samples of meat, vegetables and seafood have been found failing hygiene and quality standards recently, threatening the health of local people.
The national food safety strategy from 2011 to 2020 aimed to improve public awareness of such a pressing issue. The strategy aimed to have 70 per cent of food producers and traders, and 80 per cent of managers of concerned agencies, and 70 per cent of consumers, complying with the food safety regulations.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that Vietnam loses VND340 billion ($15.96 million) from food poisoning annually.
