On September 28, 2017, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed that Hong Lee Trading, a New York-based trading company, is recalling the Wake-up instant coffee due to the undeclared milk allergens. The products were delivered in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
"It is life-threatening to people who are allergic to these substances," said FDA in its announcement. However, there has been no illness or allergic reactions related to Wake-up coffee reported.
The recall of the product was implemented right after the milk allergens undeclared on its labels were found in a routine sampling. Under FDA guidelines, consumers can return Wake-up instant coffee products to the place of purchase and receive a 100 per cent refund.
Wake-up instant coffee exported to the United State via Hong Lee Trading is a product of Vinacafé Bien Hoa, a subsidiary of Masan Group.
A Masan Group’s representative told theLEADER that Vinacafé's products always met the export and trading standards of FDA in the US market. Since the beginning of 2017, 43,797 shipments of Wake-up coffee have been exported and sold in this market. Only 100 boxes out of 4,300 shipments delivered to Hong Lee Trading were improperly labeled.
Currently, Vinacafé Bien Hoa is printing the labels in order to send to the US to address the problem The company said that this is the problem of labeling which is not related to the quality of products. In case FDA rejects this solution, it will compensate Hong Lee Trading with 100 new correctly labeled shipments.
