Singapore food authorities said on Tuesday that no Chinese fake food products were detected in the country. This statement comes after scores of Chinese factories were busted for making counterfeit branded food products.
"As part of AVA's food safety surveillance programme, imported food products are regularly inspected and sampled for testing to ensure compliance with our food safety standards and requirements. So far, we have not detected any fake food products imported from China," an Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia.
The AVA spokesperson said that the food products which do not fulfill AVA requirements will not be allowed for sale."Enforcement action will be taken against anyone found guilty of contravening our regulations," AVA added.
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According to Chinese media reports, almost 50 factories were found to have manufactured the counterfeit food products in the Chinese city of Tianjin. They used ingredients such as "leftovers and industrial-grade salt" that are highly unfit for human consumption. The Beijing News reported that the products were packed with fake labels of popular brands like Lee Kum Kee, Nestle and Knorr.
In response to the report, Nestle said it is working closely with the authorities to protest against counterfeiters "in order to protect our consumers, as well as our products and brands". "Our experts are helping the authorities to distinguish authentic Nestle products from the counterfeits," a Nestle spokesperson said.
On Wednesday, Lee Kum Kee said that the seized counterfeit products with the company label were not actually meant for the Singapore market.
"The packaging label of the counterfeits are applicable to the China market only," the company said. It also added that the customers should always buy its products from authorised distributors and reputable retailers. This would surely minimize the risk of purchasing counterfeit products
Lee Kum Kee also said that it has taken initiative to work closely with the Chinese authorities to fight counterfeit products.
