Do exported foods need iodine supplementation?

Processing seafood for export. Photo: T.H

Exclusion for export products

Regarding the addition of iodine to food, 5 associations and business associations, including: Ho Chi Minh City Food and Foodstuff Association, Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises, Vietnam Association of Seafood Processors and Exporters, Minh Bach Food Association, Phu Quoc City Fish Sauce Production Association have sent a document to the Institute of Health Strategy and Policy, Ministry of Health to respond to the document of this institute, and at the same time recommend expanding the scope of the survey, comprehensively assessing the impact of the policy stipulated in Clause 1, Article 6 of Decree 09/2016/ND-CP.

Specifically, according to the reflection of the associations, if assessing the impact on exported food and the ability to meet international market requirements when applying the provisions in Clause 1, Article 6 of Decree 09, the negative impacts on "exported food" are very worrying.

Because according to Article 42 of the Food Safety Law 2010, the issuance of certificates for exported goods must comply with the requirements and regulations of the importing country. Currently, Vietnamese processed food products, including seafood products, have been exported to more than 160 countries, and no country has required "salt used in food processing must be salt with added iodine".

When Decree 09 was issued, many international partners and customers, especially Japan, were surprised and required Vietnamese enterprises to provide an additional commitment confirming that the salt used did not contain iodine, creating additional administrative procedures, increasing inspection costs and the risk of losing export contracts.

This is the reality that exporting enterprises are facing, creating great pressure and directly affecting the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods in the international market.

Representatives of the associations said that from 2017 to now, Vietnamese food enterprises have been able to maintain exports thanks to timely feedback and recommendations from the Associations/Unions and the food business community to the Government and the Ministry of Health. After that, the Ministry of Health issued Document No. 6144/BYT-PC dated October 27, 2017 not requiring inspection of food enterprises using iodized salt, and the Government issued Resolution 19-2018/NQ-CP dated May 15, 2018 requesting the Ministry of Health to amend Decree 09/2016 in the direction of encouraging supplementation.

Currently, Clause 2, Article 2 of Decree 09 stipulates that only "food export establishments" are allowed to be excluded, not subject to the Decree. However, in reality, most food enterprises produce in parallel for both export and domestic consumption. Very few businesses produce exclusively for export.

In addition, cleaning equipment, production lines and the production environment to avoid cross-contamination of two types of products using iodized and non-iodized salt can take from 6 to 12 hours, affecting productivity and requiring investment in separate production lines, which not all businesses are capable of doing. Therefore, if the current content of Clause 2, Article 2 is kept, this regulation will only exclude very few factories, not meeting the practical needs of the industry.

Based on the above reality, businesses have requested the Institute of Health Strategy and Policy to review and conduct a survey and assessment of this issue to include in the upcoming report. At the same time, it is recommended to amend Clause 2, Article 2 of Decree 09/2016/ND-CP to exclude "export food products" instead of "export food establishments".

Businesses spend billions more

According to the assessment of the effectiveness of the policy of adding micronutrients to processed foods: The cost is high but the actual effectiveness is unclear when the finished food products no longer have iodine.

According to the Ministry of Health's Proposal, the solution of adding micronutrients to processed foods is considered a low-cost option, estimated at only about 0.06 USD/person/year. However, in reality, businesses are incurring huge costs to comply with this regulation, including costs for raw materials, quality control, and adjusting production processes.

For example, in the case of Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company, the cost incurred to implement the micronutrient addition policy has reached 14 billion VND per year. This is the cost of one business, and when expanded across the industry, it is estimated that this figure could reach hundreds of billions of VND per year.

This cost is allocated to the product price, creating an additional burden for consumers, especially in the context of a challenging economy.

Many processed products after adding micronutrients, through the processing and circulation process, the micronutrient content in the finished product has been significantly reduced or no longer exists. Some products even have a changed taste, reducing the quality and expected nutritional value.

Enterprises believe that there is clear scientific evidence proving this fact through product testing results from member enterprises, however, these results have not been recognized by the Ministry of Health. Therefore, although enterprises have incurred significant costs and many risks in production, the actual health benefits that consumers receive are not commensurate.

Assessing the impact on the ability to supply pure salt that meets export standards, businesses said that in the context of export enterprises, especially the Vietnamese seafood industry, striving to maintain a leading position in the international market, ensuring a supply of pure salt that meets quality standards (according to TCVN, purity >97%) is very necessary.

This not only directly affects production activities, but also affects the competitiveness of export enterprises in the global market.