Police in Ho Chi Minh City have caught three stalls at Binh Dien Wholesale Market in District 8 red-handed soaking bamboo shoots and lotus stems in chemicals bought from Kim Bien, a wholesale market specializing in chemicals in District 5.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Public Security Department said on Wednesday that they will impose sanctions on the three establishments. 

Last Friday evening, a team of environmental police officers inspected several vegetable and fruit stalls at Binh Dien Wholesale Market and detected the V.Y., K.P., and T.H. stalls using chemicals without labels and clear origins for food processing.

The owners of these stalls said that the chemicals were bought from Kim Bien Market.

They did not know what the chemicals were and how harmful they were as the substances had no labels.

They used them to bleach lotus stems. Meanwhile, chemicals with yellow or orange colors were used to make bamboo shoots look fresh and eye-catching.

At the inspection time, the police found that the chemicals were contained in dirty plastic bags and mugs.

Some traders also hid chemicals in waste to escape police officers’ notice.

Police officers also found the V.Y. and K.P. stalls stocking tens of metric tons of bamboo shoots, which would be soaked in chemicals before being sold to consumers.

The inspection team seized nearly two metric tons of bamboo shoots, 135 kilograms of lotus stems, and more than 20 kilograms of chemicals for further investigation.

If these volumes of bamboo shoots and lotus stems were not detected, they would harm the health of consumers once they were put up for sale.

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