On October 5, Hanoi police announced a case involving the production and sale of counterfeit food products at Vintechpharm Co., Ltd., which has a production facility in Hong Van commune, Hanoi.
The Hanoi Police Investigation Agency charged four suspects with producing and selling counterfeit food products under Clause 1, Article 193 of the Criminal Code. Nguyen The Vinh, director of Vintechpharm, was placed in temporary detention.
Police said the Economic Police Division found signs of fraud in the company's production of dietary supplements.
The company produced and marketed several effervescent products even though it had none of the vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12 and D3 ingredients listed on the packaging.
Investigators said the products were actually mixtures of vitamin C of unknown origin, preservatives, and flavoring and coloring agents.
A search also found that the product declaration did not match the information on the labels, and that the company had not provided complete product-declaration documents.
Police seized and sealed 1,224,500 effervescent products at the production facility and at three pharmacies and medicine stalls that had bought products from the company.
Four product samples were tested. Sodium benzoate levels ranged from 4.18% to 6.78%, while the permitted level is no more than 0.2%, meaning the samples exceeded the limit by 20 to 33 times.
Testing also found no vitamin B1, B3 or B6 and did not detect some of the active ingredients advertised on the labels. Some results also found no adenosine or cordycepin as stated in the product declarations.
The packaging and advertisements claimed that the products could boost resistance, support detoxification and cool the liver. One product was marketed for children.
According to the investigation documents, production cost about 10,000 dong per tube. After completion, the products were sold for 45,000 to 60,000 dong per tube.
The products were supplied to pharmacies and distributed through e-commerce platforms including TikTok Shop and Shopee.
Hanoi police asked people and organizations that bought or used Multivitamin Pro, Actiso Rau ngo - Rau ma and Actiso Pro products supplied by Vintechpharm to contact the Economic Police Division and provide information for the investigation.
Sources: Dân Trí
