BÌNH PHƯỚC — Happy Spoon Ltd Co, which supplies food to workers at the Minh Hưng industrial zone in the southern province of Bình Phước, has been forced to temporarily suspended operations after 243 workers suffered from food poisoning.

On April 21, workers of the Sung Ju Vina Company in Chơn Thành District fell ill after eating their lunch meal.

Six food samples provided by the company and some samples of patients’ vomit were sent to the Institute of Public Health in HCM City for testing.

Test results revealed microorganisms in the tofu, which was mixed with meat, had led to the food poisoning.

The microorganism that caused the poisoning is called Staphylococcus aureus.

The company will be strictly penalised according to the law for the food safety violations.

During a probe into the incident, the company told the provincial inspection team that they were on their way to complete documents to get the certification for food safety.

The provincial People’s Committee of Hygiene and Food Safety Department has asked the relevant agencies to strictly handle food safety violations.

The agencies will publicly announce the names of those units that provide unsafe food to the community.

Meanwhile, the market management department in the central Nghệ An province yesterday reported the detection and the seizure of nearly 900 packs of seasoning with the forged trademark of the Miwon Việt Nam Ltd Co.

The department’s officials seized the goods after inspecting two private businesses in Quỳ Hợp and Quế Phong districts.

Goods worth VNĐ14.3 million (US$635) were destroyed by the department.

The two businesses also had to pay administrative penalties amounting to VNĐ17.5 million ($770). — VNS