Inspectors from the Ministry of Health sent its document to departments of health in six big cities and provinces, asking to stop circulation of 13 nutritional supplement products by Coca Cola as the beverage maker was not certified to produce them, said the Ministry’s Chief of Inspectorate Dang Van Chinh.
Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, the central city of Da Nang, the Mekong delta city of Can Tho, the central provinces of Nghe An and Khanh Hoa are required to pay close supervision to the suspended sales of Coca Cola’s 13 products.
These products are classified as nutritional supplement drinks, including Minute Maid Nutriboost (with mango, orange and strawberry flavors), Samurai energy drink (glass and PET bottles with strawberry flavor), Teppy Orange Drink, Minute Maid Splash Smooth Orange drink, Aquarius mineral sports drink, and Dasani with added minerals and nutrition, be suspended from sales .
The decision came as part of the outcome of a 45 day comprehensive inspection of the Vietnamese unit of Coca-Cola, which began on June 21.
The supervisors has found that three Coca-Cola plants in Hanoi, the central city of Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City producing nutritional supplements and beverages have not had food safety certificates for manufacturing nutritional supplements.
The health ministry inspectorate therefore requested that Coca-Cola to stop the production and circulation of these products to complete the needed certificates in accordance with law.
