‘Made-in-US’ milk actually produced in HCMC TUOITRENEWS   Two cans of GmB goat milk are seen on shelves at the Medicare supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City March 13, 2013 Photo: Tuoi Tre Even though the distributor claims it is a US-made product with Dutch origins, GmB goat milk is in fact produced and packed at a facility in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 9. GmB goat milk, imported and distributed by Dai Hung Tinh Co Ltd, has recently come under local consumers’ scrutiny for its dubious origins. Following concerns raised by suspicious local parents who feed their children the product in question, Tuoi Tre contacted a company representative and was stunned to receive the following response. “GmB goat milk is not imported in full cans from the US or the Netherlands,” Nguyen Thi Hong Gam, deputy director of Dai Hung Tinh Co, admitted. “We only import the powder, mix it with some nutritional additives under a transferred formula from the US-based GmB Food International, and pack it into the GmB product,” she added. The mixing and packing process is conducted at a facility on Nguyen Xien Street, District 9. “Packing the product in Vietnam helped save costs compared to the US,” Gam said. Dai Hung Tinh imported some 15 tons of goat milk powder from the Netherlands last year, according to a source close to the matter. The amount was enough to produce some 35,300 cans of GmB milk. Even though the milk is locally made and packed, Dai Hung Tinh has distributed it under the labels of US goat milk with Dutch origin. The products, stored in 425g cans, are on shelves in supermarkets around the city with packaging in full English and a sub-label in Vietnamese, which reads “of Dutch origin.” “I used to think that the product is fully imported from the Netherlands,” H., director of a supermarket chain, said of the misleading sub-label. In some milk stores, the vendors even remove the Vietnamese sub-labels, and tell customers that the product is imported from the US. Dai Hung Tinh Co said packing in Vietnam helps it sell the product at reasonable price for local consumers. But the “reasonable price” is as high as VND490,000 (US$23.56) a 425g can, which is far higher than the average rate of other products. Meanwhile, the company has imported the milk powder at cheap price -- EUR159 per 25 kilograms, or VND69,000 per 425g. Hence, the cost price of a GmB can, including all taxes and fees, only fetches VND78,000, which is a huge VND412,000 lower than its retail price.