By Thursday afternoon several outlets of Go! and MM Mega Market supermarkets in HCMC had taken off the shelves all products made by the company based in the northern coastal city of Hai Phong.

Many Hanoi supermarkets did the same. A spokesperson for Central Retail, the owner of the GO! and Tops Market chains, said display of pork products from Halong Canfoco had been stopped in both and they were aawaiting instructions from authorities.

Saigon Co.op and WinMart have also suspended sales of Halong Canfoco products. WinCommerce, which owns the latter, has also sought an explanation from Halong Canfoco.

Several e-commerce platforms have also removed the company’s products from their listings.

But the products are still being sold at some mini-supermarkets and convenience stores in Hanoi.

Hong Nhung, the owner of a grocery store on Nguyen Van Huyen Street in Hanoi, said she was aware of the goings-on but was waiting for guidance from distributors on what to do with stocks.

Consumers have been shocked by information about the discovery of nearly 130 tons of diseased pork in Halong Canfoco’s storage.

Loan of HCMC, a regular buyer of Halong Canfoco canned foods, said she had for long trusted the company’s products since it is an established brand sold in supermarkets.

“After reading the news, I was shocked and do not know what kind of meat was used to process the products I have consumed.”

Another HCMC resident, Hoa, said last week she had bought three cans of the brand’s pate for her family’s breakfast.

After the news broke out she threw away two of them because she “did not know if they were made from safe ingredients.”

Chau of Hanoi said she had discarded four cans of Halong Canfoco pate.

“A branded company whose products are sold in reputable supermarkets allowed diseased meat to slip through,” she exclaimed in horror.

Halong Canfoco Thursday made a disclosure to the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where it is listed.

It called it a “serious incident in the supply chain, having an impact on its reputation and short-term production.”

But the batch of diseased meat was not used or supplied to the market, it said.

Following the incident, it has reviewed the input control process and supplier selection to strengthen risk prevention.

The Hai Phong police have arrested nine people for selling the diseased pork to Halong Canfoco, accusing them of using fake documents to evade quarantine measures.

The company said the individuals are not its employees, and it had bought the meat from them after checking the seemingly legitimate documents they had provided.

Halong Canfoco, established in 1957, is among Vietnam’s leading food processors, making a variety of products such as canned meat and fish and sausages.

In 2024 it reported revenues of VND682 billion and profits of VND3 billion.