Spice Scare Threatens Local Producers

[baabaabobo]

PHUKET (Nation): Tests on southern-style shrimp-chili paste and spicy-fish curry samples from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi found that about half contained microbes or excessive levels of preservatives, a researcher from the Ministry of Public Health’s Regional Medical Sciences Center in Phuket said on Tuesday.

News of the findings could affect sales of the foods, which are often sold as souvenirs as part of the government’s One Tambon One Product project, an initiative supporting locally-made and marketed products.

Researcher Anatta Karun said that the center last year collected 27 samples of chili paste and 23 samples of fish curry from souvenir shops in the three target provinces. The samples had an amount of microbes measured and were tested for the preservatives bensoic acid and sorbic acid, as well as lead, cadmium and mercury.

The results found that half of the products were substandard because they either contained microbes or excessive preservatives – up to 10 times more than recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, he said.

The FAO recommends up to 1,000 milligrams of the preservative bensoic acid per kilogram of food product, but the samples had an average of 2,000 to 3,000mg of bensoic acid per kilo, said K. Anatta.

K. Anatta said that this was because producers – mostly villagers – did not know how to use the preservatives and needed to be taught proper production controls to ensure high-quality, safe-to-eat products.

Admitting the study may affect OTOP products, K. Anatta added that the testing was meant to lift the quality of the foods to Food and Drug Administration standards.

From the Phuket Gazette/Nation

[JBL]

cool another reason not to eat fermented shrimp paste

[Mid]

did I miss the bit about product recall .................................................

[NBT TV Phuket]

MiniVDO: Some local chili paste and spicy fish curries in the Andaman were found to have too much preservative.

To see or download mini-video, go to http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214624

Chili paste and spicy fish curry which was on sale in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi, was reported by the National Food and Drug Administration to have too much preservative chemicals. The information was confirmed by a researcher from Regional Medical Science Centre in Phuket, Wipa Kongdee, who stated that the finding was in agreement with her office’s survey last year. The officials took 50 samples from stores in three provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi, and 50% of them were found to have high amounts of preservatives. The results indicated that producers may not fully understand or observe good production procedures. Her office has informed the responsible agency of Public Health to give advice to local manufacturers. Any high volumes of preservatives can badly affect livers in the long term.

from Andaman News TV11 (VHF dial) 8.30am + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand 6pm, both broadcast from Phuket City to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket & Phuket Cable TV Channel 1 at 7/11pm, Friday 31 August 2007 & www.Thaisnews.com