Health officials inspect the premises of a watermelon seeds producer in the south-central Binh Thuan Province.

Food safety authorities have launched nationwide testing of toasted watermelon seeds after the popular snack was found soaked in carcinogenic chemicals last week in central Da Nang City.

The test results will be announced soon, he added.

Toasted melon seeds are consumed widely in all Vietnamese houses during the Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations, and are also served on other occasions like weddings and funerals. The seeds are dyed red using cooking additives as a symbol of luck.

Da Nang Health Department last week found the seeds sold at a local market had been soaked in Rhodamine B, a carcinogenic tracer dye banned from foodstuff in Vietnam.

Public concern over the finding has mounted even as many producers have announced they would increase production of the snack to prepare for the coming Tet, which falls on February 14.

Health inspectors in Binh Thuan Province on December 11 inspected the Tan Phat Trading Enterprise in

Ham Thuan Bac District and sealed 85 tons of melon seeds. The seeds containing the carcinogenic chemical in Da Nang’s Han Market were also labeled Tan Phat.

Da Nang health inspectors have also ordered the removal of all Tan Phat branded melon seeds from local booths and shelves. The company, meanwhile, has claimed that the tested products must have been counterfeited.

Chau Kim Moc, owner of Tan Phat Trading Enterprise, said 79 of the sealed 85 tons of watermelon seeds originated in China and were imported by the Dai Thien Ha Joint Stock Company in northern Quang Ninh Province.

However, inspectors said they found other branded seeds meeting required standards. For instance, seeds with the label of Thang Long Export Import Joint

Stock Company and Ha Uyen Ltd. Co., both based in Quang Ninh, met plant safety certificate requirements, the inspectors found. The companies also showed a product testing certificate, issued by the HCMC Institute of Public Hygiene last month, that the seeds contained Ponceau 4R, a food additive permitted by the Health Ministry.

Initial investigations show that most of the dry watermelon seeds are being imported from China and toasted locally.

Ineffective surveillance

Nguyen Thang, an official of the Binh Thuan Market Management Agency, said they could only inspect watermelon seeds imported from China for a few things, including a label in Vietnamese language which also indicates the product origin and a certificate approving the trade issued by Vietnamese agencies.

“We cannot know how they have been produced or what chemicals they have been soaked in before or after being imported,” he said, adding that this was the responsibility of health agencies.

Vo Duong Duc, head of Binh Thuan Food Safety and Hygiene Agency, said they did not have the personnel to inspect all the products.

He also said the current procedures of setting up inspection teams with personnel from different agencies were time-consuming and ineffective because it would provide no element of surprise. Producers would be able to remove any tainted product before the inspectors arrived, he noted.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff