VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Health Department has announced it found pseudomonas aeruginosa in purified water.

Dried fruits are selling at markets in HCM City

The 21 litre bottle, manufactured on September 28, 2009 and not due to expire till the same date in 2010, was made by Suoi Viet Purified Water Company which has its headquarters in Binh Hung Commune, Binh Chanh district.

Mai says no microorganism should be present in any bottled drinking water. This is he second time the company’s product has been found to be containing bacteria.

The HCM City health inspectors have announced a decision to temporarily halt the production and business of Suoi Viet Company and force the company to recall products and destroy them.

The HCM City Health Department has also made the decision to halt production on a number of other bottled drink water workshops.

On the same day, Vietnamese consumers read that US and Malaysian cooking control agencies have warned consumers not to eat candied and salty dried fruits originating from China and Taiwan.

It appears the products have a high lead content which could cause disease.

Tuoi tre newspaper reporters, who took a trip around HCM City, found foreign made salty and candied dried fruits are still selling at many city markets. These include Ben Thanh in District 1, An Dong and Kim Bien in District 5 and Binh Tay Market in District 6.

A saleswoman at Binh Tay Market said: “No one cares where they are from, they just buy them because they like them.”

Saigon Tiep Thi’s reporters have also visited the markets and maintain it is unclear if the products of the 15 companies mentioned in the warnings are available in Vietnam’s market or not.

Many products of this kind are unlabelled with comsumers unable to check out either their origins or original producers.

According to Doctor Pham Xuan Dung, deputy director of the HCM City Tumour Hospital, prolonged eating of lead contaminated food could cause chronic kidney, blood and lung disease and may even cause fatality.

The Ministry of Health stipulates that the maximum allowed lead content in food is 2mg per every kilo of food.

VietNamNet/TT, SGTT