Govt: Thai exported canned fruit not contaminated with HIV

[Lite Beer]

Govt: Thai exported canned fruit not contaminated

BANGKOK, 29 September 2013 (NNT) – The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry has announced that all Thai canned fruit exported to Brunei Darussalam was not contaminated as accused by Brunei.

After Brunei media has presented news, saying Thai canned fruit products are contaminated with HIV, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Agriculture and Cooperatives Chavalit Cookajorn said that the media did not have a clear evidence suggesting the accusation.

Mr Chavalit added that the Thai Embassy in Brunei had clarify the accusation through Brunei media since the rumor spread in August. However, the people still believed in the rumors and are spreading the message to others. He said people were skeptical about the issue and avoided buying Thai canned products.

The Ministry reiterated that the Thai export canned products have been thoroughly inspected and all factories must have certified GMP and HACCP before the products could be shipped out. It suspected that there was a move to discredit Thai exporters.

-- NNT 2013-09-29

[Thaddeus]

After Brunei media has presented news, saying Thai canned fruit products are contaminated with HIV

That isn't even possible, is it?

[Netizen]

To be safe don't insert your sporting equipment into a can of fruit.

[trainman34014]

I have no idea if such a thing is possible but i do know that i wouldn't trust the words of a single so-called Thai expert on any subject whatsoever !

[siampolee]

Possibly there is an aim in the statement to divert press attention away from the current unrest in Brunei. Or possibly another supplier is muddying the waters so as to secure the market niche for themselves.

[Yunla]

Brunei media has presented news, saying Thai canned fruit products are contaminated with HIV

Brunei already have their own sultanas.

[Sheryl]

After Brunei media has presented news, saying Thai canned fruit products are contaminated with HIV

That isn't even possible, is it?

No, it is not. The virus cannot live outside of the body.

[drdoom6996]

After Brunei media has presented news, saying Thai canned fruit products are contaminated with HIV

That isn't even possible, is it?

That's correct, it isn't even possible. HIV can not live in a breathing air environment (oxygen/nitrogen).

[NongKhaiKid]

I have no idea if such a thing is possible but i do know that i wouldn't trust the words of a single so-called Thai expert on any subject whatsoever !

and Thai ' certification ' means nothing either as almost everything is available if the price is right.

[soi41]

The value of all Thai foodexports to Brunei in the first 8 months of this year is 20 million baht!

Makes them an almost as important tradingpartner as Montenegro! So no doubt they should have free visas as well.

The profit from this huge tradingpartner will keep the rice-pledging-scam on tracks for another 15 minutes!

[IMA_FARANG]

Not possible. As someone said the HIV virus can not survive outside of the human body, at least not for very long.

HIV requires human cells to enter and establish itself.

Unless it has those, found in a human body.. it can not live.

Just another baseless scare story.

[fareastguy]

To be safe don't insert your sporting equipment into a can of fruit.

Guess I'll have to invest in a proper can opener now.. all the fun's gone out of life!

[Netizen]

I have no idea if such a thing is possible but i do know that i wouldn't trust the words of a single so-called Thai expert on any subject whatsoever !

Are you confessing that you don't believe your STD is cured?

[wolf5370]

OK, I understand putting it out on Brunei media that all canned goods are certified and checked, but would it not have made more sense to simply say that it is an impossibility and debunked the comment with internationally supported evidence as well (and with more emphasis) followed by in-country law suits against the media outlets reporting it?

[Thai at Heart]

OK, I understand putting it out on Brunei media that all canned goods are certified and checked, but would it not have made more sense to simply say that it is an impossibility and debunked the comment with internationally supported evidence as well (and with more emphasis) followed by in-country law suits against the media outlets reporting it?

That would be far too sensible and clear up the confusion far too completely.

It is funny how do many denials in Thailand are along the lines of, " of course the emporer has clothes on, if he didn't he would be naked", line.....

[CelticBhoy]

The main worry is the bananas and the nuts, I believe.

[Minpin]

Another scare mongering rumour posted on a social media web site on the 24 th August 2013 that is taken as true

Why has it surfaced now?

[Zodaka]

Sounds like an old prejudice against Thailand that a competing tinned fruit maker dreamed up. I guess the people who believe it probably also think that you can catch it from kissing or from a swimming pool.

[Credo]

Some someone in Brunei got HIV and when asked how he got it he said, "From some fruit from Thailand."

Unbelievable that anyone would believe that you could get HIV from canned fruit. They probably think they can get rabies from fish.

[puipuitom]

What do you think of the governmental food authorities NVWA of Netherlands, EU member state: I get a fine because I could not show enough lab test results of my canned foods for heavy metals, pesticide residues and aflatoxin in canned baby corn, coconut milk, mango slices, lychees and rice vermicelli. This despite all comes from BRC or IFS or ISO 22000 certified manufacturers, who do these lab tests every year for the update of their certification.

Second, in the RASFF database of the combined EU food authorities, set up in 1979, none of these hazards are ever found in any canned fruits and vegetables. Even publications of the lab tests ever done by other food authorities, investigation institutes, Unis etc show, even when traces of these hazards were detected with very sophisticated test devices, it was FAR below the tolerated levels. Remind: we speak about 2.935.321 metric tons imported in the EU of canned fruits + vegetables from S.E. Asia and China alone in 2008-2011.

BRC certification, a food safety scheme original set up in 1997 by British retailers to fulfil all EU food laws + some additional demands of the retailers themselves, or its equivalent IFS set up by French-German-Italian retailers, or the international ISO22000 are seen by the NVWA as "untrustworthy" not even to speak of "FRAUDE". This is the work of about 2800 worldwide working auditors educated at Master or Bachelor level + additional training, of worldwide appreciated organisations like Bureau Veritas, Det Norske Veritas, Lloyds, SGS, TUV etc. How to understand this ? Like: you fraudulous and corrupt natives from Apeland are not able to do a proper food safety audit ?

You want to see the proofs of this: send your e-mail to info at tropifood dot net

[bigbamboo]

Some someone in Brunei got HIV and when asked how he got it he said, "From some fruit from Thailand."

Unbelievable that anyone would believe that you could get HIV from canned fruit. They probably think they can get rabies from fish.

He probably got two friends to back him up and therefore it must be true.

[wolf5370]

Some someone in Brunei got HIV and when asked how he got it he said, "From some fruit from Thailand."

Unbelievable that anyone would believe that you could get HIV from canned fruit. They probably think they can get rabies from fish.

Guess its no different really than the Chinese (and interestingly Victorian British) believing Syphilis is cured by having intercourse with a pre-pubescent female virgin! Lack of education - the cause of many of the worlds ills I believe.

[h90]

After Brunei media has presented news, saying Thai canned fruit products are contaminated with HIV

That isn't even possible, is it?

No it is not possible. Not at all. And to increase customer confidence you best tell a lie...

"The Ministry reiterated that the Thai export canned products have been thoroughly inspected and all factories must have certified GMP and HACCP before the products could be shipped out."

I bet one million that no HIV test was done on any can of exported fruit. So why lie....why not tell that it is simply not possible.

[wolf5370]

What do you think of the governmental food authorities NVWA of Netherlands, EU member state: I get a fine because I could not show enough lab test results of my canned foods for heavy metals, pesticide residues and aflatoxin in canned baby corn, coconut milk, mango slices, lychees and rice vermicelli. This despite all comes from BRC or IFS or ISO 22000 certified manufacturers, who do these lab tests every year for the update of their certification.

Second, in the RASFF database of the combined EU food authorities, set up in 1979, none of these hazards are ever found in any canned fruits and vegetables. Even publications of the lab tests ever done by other food authorities, investigation institutes, Unis etc show, even when traces of these hazards were detected with very sophisticated test devices, it was FAR below the tolerated levels. Remind: we speak about 2.935.321 metric tons imported in the EU of canned fruits + vegetables from S.E. Asia and China alone in 2008-2011.

BRC certification, a food safety scheme original set up in 1997 by British retailers to fulfil all EU food laws + some additional demands of the retailers themselves, or its equivalent IFS set up by French-German-Italian retailers, or the international ISO22000 are seen by the NVWA as "untrustworthy" not even to speak of "FRAUDE". This is the work of about 2800 worldwide working auditors educated at Master or Bachelor level + additional training, of worldwide appreciated organisations like Bureau Veritas, Det Norske Veritas, Lloyds, SGS, TUV etc. How to understand this ? Like: you fraudulous and corrupt natives from Apeland are not able to do a proper food safety audit ?

You want to see the proofs of this: send your e-mail to info at tropifood dot net

The EU is a quagmire. Think that we are talking a lot of member states all with their own requirements and local laws. The important thing was getting some unified framework for member states (i.e. cross EU) - and this is what the EU is all about really - servicing the member states. It stands to reason that they make it more complicated for competing countries (the USA have fallen foul of this - and we nearly had an EU/USA banana war a decade back!).

I owned a restaurant in the UK when the EU first formed - it seemed every month we were getting different regulation - some of them bonkers (like yours) some of them the opposite to early changes (180 degree u-turns) - and the media did not help publicising rumours as impending changes either! Once we were even threatened with closure because the ceiling in a store room where only tinned items were stored, and which has another storey above, has slightly torn paper (i.e. the last owners has papered the ceiling and over time a box of something had caught it and torn the paper like an inch or so). The plaster boards above the paper were fire proof (another rule), so the "risk" was contamination - from what???? and into tin cans in cardboard boxes on wire shelves? So I fixed it by pasting up a sheet of news paper - then it got the pass (no paint, just a page from a news paper wall paper paste and voila!) - madness.

Federalisation (which was the aim of the EU) always causes too much red tape controlled by people who don't give a rat's arse about the consequences or costs they incur, just their own importance (which is pretty much nil as an MEP - most people don't even know the names of their own MEPs!).

[slapout]

I would think the more logical person to respond to this rumor/article would be some medical person, who would speak from the scientific point of view, to the press.

But why break the mold for a Thai photo shot/press release, subject matter knowledge, and relivent experience are not a requirement for approaching a problem.

[bangon04]

OK, I understand putting it out on Brunei media that all canned goods are certified and checked, but would it not have made more sense to simply say that it is an impossibility and debunked the comment with internationally supported evidence as well (and with more emphasis) followed by in-country law suits against the media outlets reporting it?

Good to see that everyone is getting into the spirit of ASEAN and the AEC ahead of time. After all there will be no room for protectionism once the AEC is in place in 2015 and the ASEAN nationas are all one big happy cooperative family.....

(except for unfounded rumours, dirty tricks, nationalist sentiment and simply ignoring the rules if it suits any member to do so).

Good to see Thailand is getting up to speed on how to play the game.....

[sonar6ca]

I guess the head gear that they wear there is a little tooooo tight.

[pasak]

On the subject of HIV transmission, why is it that mosquitoes do not transmit the virus via mosquito bites?

[Scott]

On the subject of HIV transmission, why is it that mosquitoes do not transmit the virus via mosquito bites?

Here's a link that can provide you with answers. It's a good question, but as the article explains, it just can't happen:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/why-mosquitoes-cannot-transmit-hiv-experts/

[Briggsy]

My mate had a lot of sex holidays in Pattaya. When he went out to the pub in the UK, his mates used to put plastic bin liners on the pub seat before he sat down in case he left HIV on the seats in the pub.