Authorities in HCM City are continuing a citywide search for two products believed to contain illegally recycled cooking oil, or "gutter oil".

HCM City regulators have conducted inspections of several major markets and supermarkets citywide. Initially, they have not found the two products in question, canned pickled cucumber with pork and canned minced meat with chili, produced by the Taiwanese company Wei Chuan. This company is suspected to have used gutter oil in the production process.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hanoi recently confirmed that a Vietnamese firm named Cuu Huong Trade and Services Limited Company, headquartered in District 11, imported 140 boxes of the pickled cucumber and 24 boxes of the minced meat.

Authorities yet to find contaminated products

Pham Thai Hang, a trader at Tan Binh market, said, “I’ve just heard about these products. We used to sell the same products made by a Vietnamese firm in Dong Nai Province, but not many people were buying so we stopped stocking them."

It seems that many small vendors are still unaware that these products have been recalled and contain illegal ingredients, but most do not sell them.

Representatives from several supermarkets, such as Co.opmart, Big C, and Lotte Mart have confirmed they do not sell food products imported by Cuu Huong.

Supermarket unaware of these products

Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, from the municipal Office of Food Safety and Hygiene, said that, even though authorities have yet to find these products, it’s likely that they have already been distributed and possibly consumed.

“We’ll send a memo to the Ministry of Health’s Vietnam Food Agency requiring Vietnam customs to scrutinise their records to see whether the products arrived in Vietnam. Currently, we have no samples to test," said Mai.

Inspections to continue

According to Mai, the municipal Department of Health has requested relevant authorities in 24 districts citywide to intensify inspection efforts. They have also set up a hotline so people can report any information related to these products. The hotline number is 84-8-35 040 418.