Many alcohol and beer products in several northern provinces have not met standards on food hygiene and safety, said Tran Quang Trung, Chief Inspector of the Health Ministry.
Results of 53 samples of alcohol and two samples of bottled beer recently taken from 49 producers in Hanoi, and 5 northern provinces - Phu Tho, Hoa Binh, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Lang Son -showed 17 alcohol samples and both beer samples did not meet required standards, he said.
Of these producers, 14 had no food hygiene and safety certification, he added.
The inspection agency has ordered a suspension to six kinds of products for which quality standards have yet to be announced or have been invalidated, said the ministry.
Small producers that turn out alcohol by manual processes account for as much as 80-90 percent of the total number of alcohol producers in the country, the ministry said.
