4 indicted for making 3,500 tonnes of bean sprouts with banned chemical in Vietnam's Nghe An Province

The detained suspects – Luu Manh Huong, Luu Van Trung, Tran Khac Duy, and Nguyen Van Huong, aged between 27 and 35 – are the owners of four bean sprout production establishments in Vinh City, the provincial capital.

They have been prosecuted for investigation on charges of violating food safety regulations under Article 317 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.

Their arrests followed police raids on April 11 on their production facilities in Vinh, prompted by earlier detections of banned chemical contamination in products from these establishments.

At the inspection sites, authorities found the suspects using 6-BAP, a prohibited growth stimulant, to produce bean sprouts with shorter roots and plumper stems, enhancing their appearance and market value.

6-BAP is banned in Vietnam from use in both food production and as a pesticide.

According to experts, exposure to this chemical can pose serious health risks, including skin and eye irritation, respiratory problems, and developmental harm to fetuses, such as low birth weight, hydrocephalus, and congenital malformations.

Notably, consuming large quantities of 6-BAP could be fatal, as warned by Nguyen Duy Thinh, a professor at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, in an interview with VnExpress.

Inspectors seized approximately 2,000 pots containing 25 tonnes of bean sprouts made with 6-BAP, along with 25 liters of pure 6-BAP and 150 liters of diluted solution intended for production use.

On average, each of the four establishments produced three to five tonnes of bean sprouts per day, selling them to vendors at wholesale markets in Nghe An and surrounding provinces at prices of VND10,000-15,000 (US$0.38-0.58) per kilogram.

From 2024 until their arrest, these facilities produced and sold a total of 3,500 tonnes of finished bean sprouts contaminated with the banned chemical to the market, according to investigators.

All four suspects admitted they were aware that using 6-BAP in bean sprout production was illegal and harmful to consumers. However, driven by profit, they continued using the banned substance to improve the appearance and marketability of their products.

They claimed to have purchased the chemical from unidentified individuals via social media platforms.

Authorities are continuing their investigation and have urged consumers to remain vigilant about food safety.

This incident follows a similar case in December 2024, when four individuals in Dak Lak Province, located in Vietnam's Central Highlands, were arrested for producing 2,900 tonnes of bean sprouts using 6-BAP.