The suspended sale of 13 Coca-Cola nutritional supplement drinks has nothing to do with food safety concerns but was prompted by the lack of a required safety certificate, according to head of the Viet Nam Food Administration (VFA) Nguyen Thanh Phong.

Under the current regulations, normal bottled drinks only require food quality certificates issued by municipal or provincial food safety agencies or the Ministry of Industry and Trade, for legal production, while those with added vitamins and minerals need extra food safety certificates from the VFA under the Ministry of Health, Phong said.

The Ministry of Health has suspended sales of 13 beverage products of Coca-Cola Vietnam categorised as “supplement food”, including Minute Maid Nutriboost milk drinks. (Photo: Coca Cola)

The suspended products have only received approval from the local food safety agencies as for normal bottled drinks, the official explained, adding that Coca-Cola Viet Nam should have also applied for certificates from the VFA as their products are classified as “nutritional supplement drinks”.

He revealed that the VFA will propose to the government to exempt companies with HACCP Food Safety Management Systems certification from obtaining such food safety certificates in order to simplify the administration procedures.

Last month, the Ministry of Health pulled 13 beverage products of Coca-Cola Viet Nam from store shelves. The listed products include Minute Maid Nutriboost milk drink in orange, strawberry and mango flavour, Samurai energy drink in strawberry flavour, Minute Maid TEPPY Orange Drink, Aquarius sport drink, Dasani bottled water and Minute Maid Splash Smooth.

Until now, 3 out of the firm’s 6 branches in Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi and Da Nang have obtained the full set of food safety certificates from the authorities.

(Source: VNA)