The case of fresh and powder milk has caused public resentment. However it remains unclear who is responsible for misleading brands at the expense of consumers.
Consumers suffering
Most milk products in Vietnam are branded as sterilized fresh milk or sterilized milk with composition of ingredients or the contents of fresh or powder milk. For instance, Vinamilk yoghourt has two labels displaying different information, most recently, Lothamilk products of 200ml contain only 160 or 180 ml. Dutch Lady also has lower contents of fresh milk but maintains on the label the same content of fresh milk.
After the revelation by the press, inspectors of Ministry of Health began the investigation and found out that the content of fresh milk is only 15.8-66.7 per cent of the products, in some cases even down to 2.3 per cent. Meanwhile, in accordance with the standard, sterilized fresh milk must be processed from fresh milk at high temperatures with additional powder or fat of no more than 1 per cent.
The Ministry of Health has recommended penalties and cessation of the distribution of such products, and asked producers to ensure correct information on the labels. The Ministry has also demanded related producers to make public information on their products so that the consumers can freely choose the products they like.
Vinamilk and Dutch Lady admitted that they have used most of imported powder milk for the processing. Vinamilk promised to change the labels of certain products. Ms Mai Kieu Lien, Vinamilk Director General, disclosed that six teams have inspected Vinamilk processing facilities and found mistakes only in the words “pure” and “sugar free”. Vinamilk has corrected them accordingly in October 2006. From March 2007, Vinamilk will correct all labels in accordance with the Decree of the government.
Except those who have publicly admitted their label mistakes, it remains unclear about other producers. According to the Ministry of Health, six producers have violated the standard, including Vinamilk. What are the other five? Without making it public, “mistake” is almost regarded as “fake”. The seemingly small mistake on the label will become a serious fake in trade, Mr Nguyen Thanh Phong, Food Safety Department, concluded.
In the interests of the consumers, Mr Do Gia Phan, Vice-Chairman, Department of Standards and Protection of Consumers’ Interests, said that the use of incorrect labels for a long period of time is a violation of Ordinance on the Protection of Consumers. The explanation that mistakes are due to the use of old packages is unacceptable to consumers. Evidently, the “mistakes” advertising better quality, which continued for a long period of time, have brought about big profits for the producers at the expense of the consumers.
Aftermath
The incident has caused consumers to turn away from the products and the turnover has decreased by 40 per cent. However, the biggest loss is the credibility. With WTO membership, Vietnam will face fierce competition from foreign partners. If Vietnamese businesses continue the same behaviour, they cannot maintain the market share at home, let alone the export market.
Huong Ly
Vietnamese
