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Food poisoning hospitalises hundreds in Vietnam Posted Tue Jun 24, 2008
4:10pm AEST Hundreds of workers from a footwear factory in Vietnam have
been hospitalised after showing symptoms of food poisoning, an employee
of the firm and state media said.

A staff member from the Taiwanese-owned VMC Hoang Gia factory in
southern Vietnam said "several hundred" had been hospitalised, but the
state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper said the number was "almost 1,000".
"Most of them became dizzy and several others suffered from stomach ache
and headache after having dinner of rice with tofu, cabbage and fish on
Monday," in the factory canteen, the staff member said.
Many workers had been discharged but others were still in local
hospitals for treatment, the staff member said, asking not to be named.

Provincial health officials in Tay Ninh, where the factory is located,
are investigating the case, the employee added.
Food poisoning outbreaks, especially in factory canteens, have become
more common in Vietnam with bad hygiene often blamed as the key culprit.
- AFP

This Bud's for Vietnam: Anheuser-Busch expands iconic American brew in
Asia

ST. LOUIS - Anheuser-Busch is launching Budweiser in Vietnam as it
extends its expansion in Asia.
The St. Louis-based brewer on Monday announced an import and
distribution agreement with Gannon Distribution Co., making Budweiser
available in Vietnam starting this week. Initially, Budweiser will be
available in bottles and cans in upscale bars, restaurants and
supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City and in select chain outlets across
Vietnam.

"Vietnam's growing economy and large young adult population make it an
ideal market for Budweiser," said Walter Blocker, chief executive
officer of the Gannon Group Vietnam Ltd.

Tom Santel, CEO and president of Anheuser-Busch International Inc., said
Vietnam experienced double-digit beer volume growth for the past three
years.

The Budweiser sold in Vietnam will be brewed and packaged at an
Anheuser-Busch facility in Los Angeles.
Anheuser-Busch holds a 48.5 per cent share of the U.S. beer market. But
that market has flattened in recent years, and the brewer has
increasingly looked overseas for growth.

In April 2007, Anheuser-Busch announced plans to double distribution in
China, a move expanding Budweiser distribution to an additional 100
cities. The company noted at the time that China is the world's
fastest-growing beer market. Anheuser-Busch has a 27 per cent stake in
Tsingtao, China's best-selling premium beer.

Also last year, Anheuser-Busch announced a joint venture with Crown
Beers India Ltd., giving the company entry into the beer market in
India. Under that agreement, Anheuser-Busch brews, markets and
distributes Budweiser and other beers in India. Each company has a 50
per cent ownership in the joint venture.

Anheuser-Busch also has 50 per cent ownership in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's
leading beer-maker.

Viet women riders spice up their 'rice cookers'

Young motorcyclists customise helmets with pretty covers to look less
stuffy

By Roger Mitton

HANOI - YOUNG Vietnamese women have always loved to wear colourful
bonnets, especially when tootling around town on their snappy motor
scooters.

The stylish tradition, however, came under threat last December when the
authorities began enforcing a new law that required all riders to wear
crash helmets.

Suddenly, the young women riders no longer looked so pretty.

With drab, ungainly helmets perched on their heads, they made the
streets of Vietnam seem much duller and less charming.

The girls certainly loathed the helmets, referring to them as 'rice
cookers'. But they had to wear them - or face paying a hefty fine.

More than a quarter of Vietnam's population of 86 million own a
motorbike, and the result is a death toll that reached 30 a day last
year.

With the implementation of the new law on helmets, fatalities have
dropped by 15 per cent, and injuries by 33 per cent. The downside,
however, has been the rise of ugly 'rice cookers' replacing the
attractive bonnets.

Fortunately, Vietnam's entrepreneurial spirit has stepped in, and
stylised helmet covers shaped like pretty bonnets have sprouted up
everywhere.

Said Ms Nguyen Ngoc Anh, a secretary at one of the foreign embassies in
Hanoi: 'I'm proud to say I was among the first women to wear one. All my
friends said: 'Oh, Ngoc Anh, you look so lovely in your new helmet'.

'They asked me where I got it and now they all have one.'

Usually made of textile or light plastic, the covers fit snugly over the
top of the helmets and are secured with elastic or snap-on clips. They
come in all manner of designs and shades, from shocking pink to Scottish
tartan to kitschy polka dots with flouncy wide brims.

Said Ms Anh: 'Lots of women wear them now and they make the streets less
stuffy and more beautiful.'

Not to be outdone, many men have also adopted cap-shaped helmet covers
with camouflage designs, the stars and stripes of the American flag, or
colours of their favourite football teams.

But some say the new trend is getting out of hand - and may even be
dangerous.

Doctors have cautioned that certain helmet covers, especially those with
stiff plastic brims, may increase the chance of injury in an accident.

Said Mr Duong Minh Man, director of Ho Chi Minh City's Cho Ray Hospital
Brain Injury Department: 'Since March this year, we've had about 40
motorbike accident cases each day, and many have involved wounds caused
by girls wearing brimmed helmets.'

But Vietnam's womenfolk certainly appear unconvinced by the warnings.

Said Ms Anh: 'To be honest, I don't like wearing a crash helmet,
decorated or not, especially on hot, humid days. But life is hard and
you have no choice. So it's better to look pretty, anyway.'

rogermitton@hotmail.com