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| URC’s products were fined for lead contamination. - petrotimes.vn photo |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI – The Vietnam URC Company Limited has been fined VNĐ5.8 billion (US$264,000) for its lead-contaminated beverages.
The two beverages of the green tea C2 product and the energy drink Rồng Đỏ (Red Dragon) contained higher levels of lead than mentioned on the labels.
The company had sold the products to the market for VNĐ3.8 billion ($173,000).
Under the decision of the Ministry of Health signed yesterday, the company had to withdraw and destroy all products from the two batches which contained high levels of lead.
Recently, unsubstantiated reports about two beverages containing high levels of lead were circulating on the Internet and on social media networks. Samples of C2 and Rồng Đỏ were found to have lead content of 0.087mg per litre and 0.085mg per litre, respectively, while the permissible limit is 0.05mg per litre.
The reports went viral on the Internet recently, attracting the attention of the Ministry of Health.
The ministry had collected samples of the two beverages sold by Vietnam URC., to test for lead in response to allegations that it was selling poor-quality products.
An inspection team, led by Nguyễn Văn Nhiên, deputy chief inspector of the ministry, has been tasked with evaluating the company’s adherence to food-safety regulations over a period of 15 days.
The company stands accused of using low-quality citric acid as an acidity regulator in its beverages. – VNS
