PHNOM PENH: Officers from the General Department of Consumer Protection Competition and Fraud Repression Directorate-General (CCF) recently inspected fresh seafood products being sold at Tra Lok Bek and found about 180 kg of CMC gel-infused shrimp.

On Thursday, 19 January 2023, officials of the CCF collected samples of the fresh seafood being sold around the Tra Lok Bek area to detect if there were any banned chemicals present. The officials used mobile food testing vehicles to conduct the tests and identify cases of non-compliance to food standards, especially in the direct lead up to the Chinese and Lunar New Year.

After CCF branch officials in Phnom Penh found 180 kg of shrimp infused with CMC gel, they moved forward with the procedural penalties and confiscated the fraudulent seafood products to destroy them.

CCF state that CMC is a substance used by fraudsters to inject into fresh shrimp products to increase their weight and exploit the interests of consumers.

Besides this finding of fraudulent shrimp, preliminary analyses conducted by the mobile test vehicles for 40 product samples showed no presence of banned chemicals. Experts further analyzed the samples in CCF's laboratory to verify the results.