Firms that imported hundreds of tons of substandard meat products this summer have yet to get rid of the goods and authorities still haven’t confirmed whether or not some of the meat was sold in Vietnam.

The Animal Health Center No.6, which manages animal health conditions in the southern region, said that more than 320 tons of the substandard meat imported by eight firms has been stored in Ho Chi Minh City since July and August.

The meat is still being stored at the companies’ local warehouses.

The imports, including 60 tons of bowels, 20 tons of chicken legs and 2.7 tons of goat penis and feet, all labeled as edible human cooking, was ordered to be re-exported after animal health agencies found it did not meet food safety standards.

If not re-exported, the meat products must be used for non-human food purposes or destroyed, according to the health center.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the center under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the firms that own the meat had given different excuses for not re-exporting the products.

Some said they could not find buyers abroad or complained that they would not be able to obtain refunds. Others have remained silent.

Binh said some of the firms have asked to turn the products into crocodile feed but he said his unit was afraid that permitting this would help the firms traffic more unsafe meat products as it would take a long time to process the meat into crocodile feed.

Binh said his unit wasn’t sure whether or not some of the products had been sold to local traders for human consumption.

“Theoretically, we’ve ordered that it is all to be stored, not sold, by the companies, but we have no way of knowing if they’ve sold some.”

The center was still considering the third solution, having VND2.1 billion (US$117,500) spent disposing of the products, said Binh.

“I really want to quickly get rid of this pile of meat once and for all.”

In related news, health inspectors in HCMC on Wednesday found a pig skin processor in Binh Thanh District using more than 100 kilos of chemicals to illegally bleach more than three tons of undocumented skin.

Reported by Quang Thuan