Asia Times Online :: Korea News and Korean Business and Economy, Pyongyang News

Korea

Feb 26, 2005

Carcinogen scare over nuts from Vietnam

SEOUL - A deadly cancer-causing substance has been found in imported nuts, raising concern over the credibility of safety checks by quarantine officials, a state consumer advocacy group said Friday.

The discovery of aflatoxin, classed as one of the top carcinogens by the World Health Organization, comes after reports of aflatoxin-related deaths in Hong Kong, Europe and Africa. "A recent safety check showed that a nut product imported from Vietnam contains an amount of aflatoxin eight times higher than the permissible level," the Korea Consumer Protection Board said.

Produced by fungi, aflatoxin is the most potent naturally occurring carcinogen that causes liver cancers in humans and animals. "The product must have been contaminated in Vietnam because they are vacuum packaged," the board said. The domestic importer has been told to pull the product from store shelves in Seoul, but there is a possibility that a considerable amount has already been sold to consumers, it said.

Safety checks of imported nut products are conducted every three years in South Korea, which raises the possibility that products contaminated with harmful substances may enter the domestic market without undergoing customs checks. "The discovery shows that South Korea is no longer safe from aflatoxin," the board said. "We will advise quarantine officials to conduct safety checks into products with potential risks of contamination."

(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)

All material on this website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written permission.
0„8 Copyright 1999 - 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd.

Head Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong Kong
Thailand Bureau: 11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110

Asian Sex Gazette Korean Sex News