Tens of thousands of tons of animal oil turned into human food: What does the Ministry of Health say?

In response to the news that Hung Yen Provincial Police had dismantled a particularly large-scale fake cooking oil production and consumption ring, the Food Safety Department ( Ministry of Health ) issued an urgent warning, emphasizing that this was a serious violation of food safety regulations, posing a great risk to public health.

The Food Safety Department has issued a series of recommendations for food production and business establishments, especially collective kitchens and ready-to-eat meal providers.

Accordingly, establishments need to require suppliers to clarify the quality declaration and origin of raw materials, not relying solely on packaging or labels. In addition, raw materials not used for the declared purpose in food processing must not be used, even when there are sufficient invoices and documents.

When detecting suspicion, the Department recommends that units promptly inform the authorities for handling according to regulations.

The Food Safety Department emphasizes that compliance with the intended use of food ingredients is not only a technical requirement, but also a mandatory legal responsibility. Any intentional use of unsuitable ingredients for food processing, especially when those ingredients are not safe for consumers, will be strictly handled according to the provisions of the law.

According to VTV News on the evening of June 24, Hung Yen Provincial Police have dismantled a particularly large-scale ring, with tens of thousands of tons of counterfeit goods sold.

Initial investigation results determined that this group imported raw oil for livestock and aquatic products - which did not meet standards for human food - and then used sophisticated tricks to "transform" it into cooking oil for consumption.

They designed an underground pipeline system to pump livestock oil into tanks labeled cooking oil, then bottled and labeled the Ofood brand - a product of Nhat Minh Food Production and Import-Export Company Limited.

From there, this amount of fake oil was widely distributed to the market, mainly consumed in industrial kitchens, restaurants, and craft villages producing confectionery, chips, and snacks.

In addition to Nhat Minh Food, this line also has the participation of An Hung Phuoc Import Export Trading Company Limited - one of the largest vegetable oil importers in the country. In the past three years, the total revenue of the system related to this line is estimated at more than 8,200 billion VND.

The investigation agency seized more than 1,000 tons of smuggled oil and prosecuted three leading suspects for the crimes of manufacturing, trading in counterfeit goods and smuggling.

HA (according to VTC News)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/hang-chuc-nghin-tan-dau-cho-vat-nuoi-thanh-thuc-pham-cho-nguoi-bo-y-te-noi-gi-414911.html