Most of the imported mushrooms available in Vietnam are from China, but food safety agencies have so far found these products to be normal, an official said Sunday amid concerns that Chinese fungi can remain fresh for an unusually long time.

Vietnam imported nearly 8,000 tons of mushrooms of all kinds in the first six months of this year, a 62 percent increase from the same period last year, Huynh Tan Dat, head of the food safety division under the Plant Protection Department, said.

The fungi are from South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia but 78.01percent of them come from China, Dat said.

“China remains the largest supplier as they have a developed mushroom growing sector and it borders Vietnam,” he explained.

Concerns over Chinese mushrooms emerged earlier this month after some consumers reported that the products they purchased could remain fresh for ten days at room temperature and up to 30 days in refrigerators, while usually mushrooms are fresh for only one to seven days.

In a recent talk with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Dr. Nguyen Dang Nghia, from the Southern Institute for Agricultural Technique and Science, said the mushrooms must have been laced with preservatives before being sold to consumers.

But Dat from the Plant Protection Department said his department has yet to detect any cases in which Chinese mushrooms contain excessive amounts of pesticide or preservative residue.

He pressed that the mushrooms had to undergo many tests and checks before entering the market.

“There are also some preservatives that are safe and allowed for use in many countries,” he said.

“There is also the possibility that mushrooms are laced with preservatives once they have been imported to Vietnam.”

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