EU warns Vietnamese instant noodle products

Earlier, the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (SPS), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said it had received warnings from the EU regarding certain instant noodle products exported by Vietnamese businesses.

Germany issued warnings about a chicken-flavored instant noodle product by Asiafoods Corporation for containing ethylene oxide levels higher than EU standards. Malta meanwhile issued a warning for a pho product by Nguyen Gia because it uses genetically modified rice.

Poland warned chicken-flavored instant noodles of Vietnam Food Industry Joint Stock Company (Vifon, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City). Poland has now returned this shipment.

According to preliminary review information from the Department of Science and Technology, at the end of the afternoon on July 22, out of 3 warning cases, only 1 case was identified with EO criteria exceeding the threshold set by the EU.

At the request of the EU, over the past time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has intensified controls over the food supply chain and has established a working group to inspect production lines and proactively monitor 3 groups of instant noodles products in Vietnam.

Since February 17, the EU has demanded certificate requirements for instant noodle batches imported into the region. These batches would be checked for their ethylene oxide level after export, and so far, no batch has been returned. From the above case, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recommended that in order to avoid violating regulations set out by the markets where enterprises plan to export their products, they need to fully  study all markets, especially issues related to technical measures of each market to ensure full compliance of regulations for exports.