Over 6,000 Kg Salbutamol Was Mixed Into Livestock Feed

Of over 9 tons salbutamol imported into Vietnam in 2015, only 10kg was used properly, the rest was mixed into livestock feed. 

Using banned substances to stimulate growth and produce lean meat in livestock farming.

The information was released by Mr. Phan Manh Thong -  Head of Unit 5, Environmental Crime Prevention Department (C49), Ministry of Public Security at the conference of reviewing peak period in food safety in agriculture. This conference was organized on 3^rd of March in Hanoi.

According to Mr. Phan Manh Thong, based on 2015 statistics, there are more than 20 enterprises that imported 9,140 kg salbutamol to Vietnam. Of imported volume, about 3 tons are stored in the warehouse of these enterprises. Over 6 tons were sold but only 10kg was used properly.

Salbutamol can be used to produce medicine for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment. However, in Vietnam, animal feed producers use this substances to mix into livestock feed to stimulate growth. Livestock fed with this kind of feed can generate more lean and fresh colored meat.

Besides, animal feed producers used many tricks to encourage farmers to use the mixed feed such as bonus, promotion or even guarantee to buy livestock.

Although authorities have had certain actions to prevent this, salbutamol is still used illegally in small farms, animal feed production plants and this gradually spread in rural areas.

According to inspectorates of MARD, after 4 months of penalizing banned substances, antibiotics usage in livestock farming, there were 13 enterprises being reported to have used salbutamol to mix into livestock feed.

Dung Nguyen

Source: Thanh Nien