Phuket’s courtroom prescription: Legal drama escalates in Swiss assault dismissal

[MRaina]

There is a company in Samui, that purported to sell a product as Organic. This product was sold for 3600 baht per kilogram.

However, when we received the product, it was very low quality. It was said to come from a facility in Chiang Mai. But the product was not 100% pure, and is very gritty, and there can be seen to be additives or some other substance in the product like sand or clay. We checked with the facility in Chaing Mai, who said that the product is actually not Organic at all.

The company that sold it, said that they would provide certification instead of a refund, but never did either. They also returned a hostile email to an assistant after reminded to send the certification, and then refused to respond at all. It is only a sample, and not a big issue, but our concern is that others will come into contact with this company and falsely labeled products.

How can this company be reported or protect others from them?

[Scott]

For legal purposes, please refrain from naming the product.

The question to be answered is to whom should it be reported.

[GungaDin]

I had heard of a gov 'consumer affairs' dept, but have never heard of anyone using it.

Maybe it's another gummy shark.

[Maestro]

The Government Contact Center, phone number 1111, will probably be able to direct you to the appropriate government agency. For a food product, this may be the Food and Drug Administration. There are strict labelling regulations for processed and packaged foods, I believe.

--

Maestro

[jandtaa]

This is the logo of ACT the organic accreditation agency in Thailand which is itself internationally accredited (IFOAM) through IOAS. Obviously not all organic producers are going to register as there is a licensing fee etc... and TIT afterall. On the otherhand many larger Thai producers especially those with an eye to exporting organic produce have joined the scheme. I have included their address below as they may be able to help you find an accredited organic product.

619/43 Kiatngamwongwan building (1st floor)

Ngamwongwan Rd.

Tambon Bangkhen Muang

Nonthaburi 1100

tel: +66 29526677 email: [email protected]

cheers J

[soidog2]

For legal purposes, please refrain from naming the product.

The question to be answered is to whom should it be reported.

Just curious, what legal consequences (libel) can the board incur from a posters allegation.

As far as I understand, the board does not control or endorse the posters opinions.

Thanks

Rightly or wrongly, how are we supposed to protect ourselves from alleged fraud if you delete the product’s name ?

[Scott]

I received a message from the regular moderator of the forum who may be able to shed more light on the product in question. There are liability issues involved and thus the name was edited out. The topic of the thread is how to report something that is mislabeled.

We first need to establish that it is fraud before a product can be named. The fraud may be committed by a distributor, not the actual producer etc.

[soidog2]

I received a message from the regular moderator of the forum who may be able to shed more light on the product in question. There are liability issues involved and thus the name was edited out. The topic of the thread is how to report something that is mislabeled.

We first need to establish that it is fraud before a product can be named. The fraud may be committed by a distributor, not the actual producer etc.

I do not want to engage in an endless conversation about this, but it should not be the boards function to determine whether a fraud claim is valid or not.

That is up to the respective parties to iron it out.

This forum is for posters to exchange ideas/experiences/opinions (such as mine)/

It does not make you look like a believer in free speech; rather “we” know better what is good for you attitude that prevails over here.

Best regards.

[jandtaa]

Hi SD2

Whilst I may agree with your sentiments the "rules is the rules" as they say and I would like to remind you that one of these is not discussing moderation.

I have PM'd the OP to try and discover the generic product that he believes is fraudulently labelled as it would help to know what we are discussing in order to assist him in addressing his problem. I'm also intrigued to know what organic product sells for 3600 baht a kilo, It's gotta beat rice,cassava,rubber etc although maybe it's such high input that to make a profit one has to adulterate it with grit/sand/clay .

cheers for now J

[MRaina]

Thank you for the above listing. This looks like the right agency.

The product was Spirulina, which the store said that was Certified Organic before it was ordered.

After the product was received, it was clearly NOT pure or Certified Organic.

The product label also says 'USFDA and Halal Certified' which also seems unlikely.

The supplier, Boonsom's Spirulina Farm, in Chaing Mai (is it okay to list this information?)

said that the product was not Certified Organic, but that stores often 'lied' about the certification.

Here is the email reply from the supplier:

====

Kannikar P. <[email protected]>

date Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 6:34 PM

subject Re: Inquiry

Hi

We are not organic certifed ,to be certified like that we have to lie ,like somes that claim their products are organic certified.If asking the spirulina experts they would say that spirulina never pass the organic certifying process.All we can say is that we raise our spirulina in the most secured and cleanest environment and we are proud of it. And if you don't know,many spirulina sellers,many who claim they're certified, order from our farm.Thanks for your kind attention.

Best Regards

thaiheritage

www.thaiheritagesite.com

[MRaina]

Are there other agencies that this company should be reported to? Is there a list book of these certification agencies in Thailand?

Organic is a very tender market, and it is unfortunate to see the label used so carelessly here. Hopefully this will be investigated and some resolution brought to this company.

[slapout]

Not wanting to bust any bubble about truth in advertisement, mislabeling of product content, knock offs/copies, snake oil products, etc here, as well as many places in the world, but ....... Do the terms almost pregnant, and nearly a virgin ring a bell? If the product satisfies your needs and you are willing to spend what is required, ok, if not do not give them your business and tell your friends/TV members why.

[jandtaa]

Hi MRaina

I think you're going to have problems sourcing organic in Thailand. I had a quick look on the net to confirm spirulina was the blue green algae the missus sometimes cooks up into a revolting green gloop (harvested wild from mountain streams up here in the North). I'm guessing yours was a dried product (powder). The problem is all the Thai farms producing it are most likely to be using a chemical form of nitrogen as the fertiliser input so it is not going to be strictly organic.

Regarding the labelling, "organic" is a Thai loan word and has a whole range of different meanings to them in terms of what is allowed, quite often it seems that it is used to denote products that have been grown without the use of herbicides and pesticides but have used chemical forms of fertiliser. It is also worth considering that they may have simply copied the labelling of a western product and don't fully comprehend its meaning. Probably your only chance of action is if the company has fraudulently used the logos of one of the accreditation agencies who may wish to take action but then again TIT.

Regarding the impurities (sand grit etc) difficult to tell if this originates from the grower ( depends whether he is growing in soil/sand or using substrate as some growers do) or the distributor adulterating the product. I'm guessing it's the former as this stuff is a nightmare to clean all the impurities from the fibers (the wife and family will sit there for hours washing and preparing it !!). There is a big farm in Petchabun province I think that farms in a closed system, laboratory cultured and then grown out in closed ponds or raceways (also has a spin drying tower) so this maybe a cleaner product but I'm guessing still chemical fertilser inputs.

Cheers for now J

[MRaina]

Yes, although there is spirulina that is grown and certified organic, and it is possible to grow it this way. Not sure how many farms there are in Thailand at the moment, but this facility seems to be one of the main ones right now. So it is unfortunate that they are labeling it organic when it is not, and not producing a very good quality product either. The only palatable spirulina seems to come from abroad, right now.

Re: 2 posts above: It is not ONLY the certification that is the issue here, but the fact that they are selling a really low quality product, grade D with fillers, under the label Certified Organic, when it is neither certified organic nor good quality.

There are several Spirulina manufacturers that do have this item naturally grown, although not Certified Organic, that is a good quality, Grade A product. Source Naturals brand carries one that is manufactured in China, that is not certified, but is grown naturally and is a good product. Their certified organic spirulina is also manufactured in China, and is a good, Grade AA product as well.

<original text edited>

The term Organic should be preserved in its purity as well. Organic is a very young market, and one would hope that the label stays pure. Here in Thailand, people are supposed to be conscious of this as well, and hope that the market will use this label in good faith, and according to the rules.

Edited October 28, 2009 by jandtaa
removed possible libel until I can obtain further clarification from the OP