Vietnam slaps fine of $1,100 on PepsiCo
Vietnam's Ministry of Health has decided to impose a fine of VND25 million (US$1,100) on PepsiCo’s Vietnamese branch for failing to carry out periodic checks on packets of its soft drinks.
The decision was made following an inspection that started in September at Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage Company, a fully foreign owned joint venture between US PepsiCo Inc. and Japan’s Suntory Holdings Limited.
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The ministry said that all of the 107 soft drink samples taken had met food safety requirements, and the company had complied with Vietnam’s regulations regarding raw materials, storage facilities, production lines, water treatment, labeling and advertising.
However, PepsiCo Vietnam did not conduct periodic checks on all its products’ packaging, and only ran tests on one sample from each batch.
The company has been asked to conduct thorough checks in the future.
Previously, PepsiCo’s biggest rival, Coca Cola, was fined VND434 million (US$19,186) for producing what the health ministry defines as food supplements without the right certificate from the health ministry.
Another rival, the Vietnamese branch of the Filipino food and beverage firm Universal Robina Corporation, was also fined VND5.812 billion (US$257,110) for producing and selling products with excessive lead content earlier this year.
