US Embassy reassures Vietnam over tainted apple fears

Granny Smith and Gala apples were on January 6 subject to a voluntary recall by Bidart Brothers, as environmental testing revealed contamination with listeria monocytogenes at the firm’s apple packing facility.

Bidart Brothers is based in Bakersfield, California, whereas “over 98 percent of all apples exported from the United States to Vietnam come from Washington State,” the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said in a press release yesterday.

Other suppliers to the Vietnamese market include producers in California, New York, and Oregon, according to the document.

“No other U.S. companies producing apples, including those growing in Washington State, are part of the Bidart Brothers recall,” the embassy asserted.

In addition to Bidart Brothers, three other companies in the United States that used apples from Bidart have issued voluntary recalls of their caramel-coated apples due to the potential contamination with listeria monocytogenes, according to the press release.

The companies include Lochirco Fruit & Produce, Inc. (Happy Apple Company), in Missouri; California Snack Foods, in California; and Sugar Daddy LTD (Merb’s Candies), also in Missouri.

The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi met with the Vietnamese Plant Protection Department, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, over the issue the same day.

The deputy department head, Hoang Trung, asserted during the meeting that Vietnam has never imported caramel apples.

“At this time, not a single batch of caramel-coated apples has been imported from the U.S. to Vietnam,” he said.

The Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) also announced on Wednesday that no registration for the import of caramel-coated apples has been issued since 2012.

The Southeast Asian country, meanwhile, has imported some 1,000 metric tons of fresh apples via air and sea transport so far this year, Trung added.

From 2014 to date, total imports of apples are around 17,000 metric tons, all of which “had to pass food safety checks before clearing customs,” the official said.

“No batches of U.S. apples have been found to have quality issues,” he added.

The official said the department’s review found that 90 percent of the U.S. apples shipped to Vietnam are from Washington State, not California, where Bidard Brothers grows its apples.

Strengthening checks

The Plant Protection Department has ordered its units to strengthen checks on local fruit imports to see if they were sourced from Bidard Brothers.

The department also requested that relevant agencies take samples of 100 percent of the U.S. apple shipments for listeria monocytogenes tests before clearing customs for them, Trung said.

Vietnam is among ten countries and territories the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes have sourced apples from Bidart Brothers, according to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

The other markets are Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

The FDA has informed all trading partners in these markets “to ensure all consumers and foreign regulators are provided with accurate information and are able to take appropriate actions to prevent the consumption of recalled apple products,” the embassy said.

The FDA along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local authorities are investigating a listeriosis outbreak – caused by the bacterium listeria monocytogenes – linked to commercially produced, prepackaged whole caramel apples. The investigation is still ongoing, and no fresh apples have been associated with any illnesses to date.

The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said it is communicating with the VFA and other relevant authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide the most updated information available.

Supermarkets across Ho Chi Minh City, meanwhile, are still selling U.S. apples, including Granny Smith and Gala apples of producers other than Bidart Brothers.

But consumers are concerned by the news and some have temporarily stopped buying U.S. apples.

“I read the news and decided to buy New Zealand apples instead of the U.S. fruit,” said Tran Thi Chuyen, a consumer in Tan Phu District.

Listeriosis infection primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and people with weakened immune symptoms, according toReuters.

It can be fatal, with symptoms including fever, severe headache, muscle aches, confusion, convulsions, nausea and a stiff neck, according to the FDA.