Vietnam tests 2 Philippine beverages for lead

C2 beverage being produced at a URC factory. Photo: Thien Huong

The Vietnam Food Administration has collected samples of two Philippine beverage brands sold by URC Hanoi Company to test for lead after rumors about their alleged poor quality went viral on the Internet recently.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, director of the agency, said he has sought early results of the tests on green tea C2 and energy drink Rong Do made by Universal Robina Corporation because it is “a hot issue on social networks.”

Rumors have been circulating since May 7 that C2 and Rong Do contained high levels of lead, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

Interestingly, a sample of citric acid, commonly used as an acidity regulator in beverages, taken from the company was found to have lead content of 0.84 mg/kg against the permitted limit of 0.5 mg/kg.

URC Hanoi had requested the National Institute for Food Control to test a batch produced in July 2015, Tuoi Tre reported.

But the newspaper provided no further details about when the tests were done or why the authorities did not take cognizance of the test results to test the drinks.

Phong said it was unclear if URC Hanoi had used the citric acid from the batch in its products.

It is also not known why URS, which had itself produced the citric acid, wanted it tested.

This year the Ministry of Health is also set to test products made by Coca-Cola Vietnam, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage and Wonderfarm.