Pedestrians walk by a bottled water cart in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1. Poor hygiene conditions at production plants have led Hanoi and HCMC health officials to carry out inspections this month.

The Ho Chi Minh City Health Department Monday suspended operations at two bottled water plants that failed to meet hygiene standards, raising the number of shutdowns in the city to four this month.

Aquaran Water, whose quality certificate also expired last year, won’t return to the market until the bottlers, Lien Phu Phat Production and Commerce Company in District 10, can show they meet health standards.

Aquaran labels also breach regulations by not displaying the production or expiry date.

Both plants were substandard and presented risks of infections, according to the department officials who took samples for testing.

Last week, the city authorities shut down two bottled water companies producing the Aquafar and Aguavida brands, which were found to be contaminated with bacteria.

According to the latest report from the HCMC Preventive Health Center, 67 percent of the city’s bottled water plants failed hygiene inspections last year, while for ice-making plants, the proportion was over 61 percent.

HCMC Health Department Deputy Director Le Truong Giang said last month that all the city’s ice and bottled water plants would be checked in March.

In Hanoi, health inspections of bottled water, soft drinks and ice makers began on the weekend with an initial-findings announcement due next week.

Chief Inspector Nguyen Viet Cuong of the Hanoi Health Department said on Sunday that the inspection would be completed by summer (April, May).

Cuong said the inspections before August 1, 2008, when the capital merged with Ha Tay and parts of Vinh Phuc and Hoa Binh provinces, had discovered many unhygienic water bottling plants.

There were 234 bottled water plants in the expanded Hanoi, he said.

Source: TN, Agencies