Vietnam Health Ministry Tackles Baby-food Panic
@ 12 April 2009 03:03 PM
SAIGON, April 9 (Bernama) -- The Food Hygiene and Safety Department said consumers should not worry about US baby formula suspected to be tainted with perchlorate until global or US authorities confirm it.
Quoting a statement, the Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported that the department said the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organisation did not sound warnings about perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel that is harmful to human health.
The Ministry of Health and other agencies were keeping an eye on the issue and would release an official warning in the media if it were confirmed, the statement said.
The ministry is working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Customs General Department to inspect milk powder imported from the US.
The Food Hygiene and Safety Department has contacted the FDA for more information about US brands said to contain the chemical.
Reports have said scientists at the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found traces of perchlorate in 15 brands of formula milk with a combined 87 percent share of the US market.
CDC scientists said perchlorate could damage the thyroid gland and adversely affect the foetus, including the development of its brain.
But the reports have not revealed the names of the tainted brands.
-- BERNAMA{nl}{nl}