In Vietnam, oil meant for animal feed sold as cooking oil

The oil was sold under the Ofood brand by Hanoi-based Nhat Minh Food Co., Ltd and marketed as containing vitamin A, national broadcaster VTV reported on Tuesday evening. 

Tests showed the product did not contain any vitamins and failed to meet food safety standards.

Authorities said the suspects used underground pipes to pump crude vegetable oil from animal-feed tanks into containers meant for consumer cooking oil.

Shell companies and falsified safety documents were then used to distribute the product.

The oil was sold to industrial kitchens, restaurants, and snack producers where ingredient sources are not closely monitored, VTV said.

Dong Thap Province-based An Hung Phuoc Import-Export Trading Co., Ltd, one of Vietnam's largest vegetable oil importers, was also identified as a distributor.

Police in Hung Yen Province have charged the suspects with producing and trading counterfeit food and smuggling. 

More than 1,000 tonnes of imported oil was seized. 

Investigators said some firms involved had operated for up to 14 years, with estimated annual revenue of VNND4.5 trillion (US$172.1 million).

Authorities said the group profited from price differences and tax evasion. 

Cooking oil for human use carries an eight percent value-added tax, while oil for animal feed is tax-exempt. 

Human-grade oil also sells for about 17 percent more than feed oil.

Nguyen Duy Thinh, a former lecturer at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said crude oil intended for animal feed is unrefined and not suitable for human consumption.

"This type of oil may contain harmful substances that are not removed during processing," Thinh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. 

"Used cooking oil, often collected from restaurants, is also unsafe but sometimes reused in feed."

The Ministry of Health's Vietnam Food Administration urged industrial kitchens and food service providers to verify suppliers' documentation and report suspicious ingredients. 

It warned that misuse of food ingredients would be strictly punished.