Hidden dangers from candies and bird's nest candies sold during Tet

At the markets in Vinh city, at this time there are countless types of candy for sale on the market with the number of buyers gradually increasing every day.

Vinh Market is considered the capital of consumer goods in Vinh City. Right on the road to Tay Communal House, Vinh Market has dozens of stalls displaying all kinds of cakes and candies.

According to observations, most of the candies are contained in large bags so that passersby can easily observe. In addition to packaged candies, boxes with product information, candies by weight still account for a large quantity.

People buy Tet candy at Vinh market. Photo: Quang An

However, most of the candies here have no labels, not even on the big bags or on the individual candies. In addition, popular items during Tet such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashew nuts... have absolutely "3 nos": no origin, no brand, no expiration date.

Seeds such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, jams... are packed in large bags without any labels. Photo: Quang An

When asked about the lack of labels and packaging, a shop owner at Vinh market said: "I imported a whole bag of this candy but it didn't sell well, so I opened it up and put it in a big bag to sell by weight for everyone to buy easily."

Ben Thuy Market, right next to Vinh University, is the main shopping place for many students. Nguyen Van Troi Street in front of the market currently sells countless candies and foods for Tet. Especially candies, jams, fried dough sticks, dried corn... have no origin, but many students choose to buy them because of their cheap price and eye-catching colors.

Students buy candy by weight on Nguyen Van Troi Street, in front of Ben Thuy Market. Photo: Quang An

Although candies have different ingredients and colors, the candy market sells them at the same price, ranging from 50,000 - 100,000 VND for candy balls; fried dough sticks, sunflower seeds... cost from 40,000 - 60,000 VND/kg...DBecause of their low prices, these candies are popular among consumers with low incomes.

Big markets like Quang Trung, Quan Lau... also have many kiosks selling candies by weight. Ms. Le Thi Binh, Hong Son ward said: "Tet candies at the markets are much cheaper than in supermarkets or shopping centers, so our people still prefer them, we also sell to retail markets in the districts".

It is easy to see that many types of Tet candy sold by weight do not have any information on the candy packaging, but are very eye-catching and have low prices, so they attract customers. Photo: Quang An

Not only in the market but also on social networks at the end of the year, many people are selling Tet candies and jams. Unlike direct purchases, this type of online business also makes it difficult for buyers to identify the origin of the goods.

Tet candies are widely advertised on Facebook. Photo: Quang An

With the "matrix" of candy on the market today, consumers must pay attention to the origin, expiration date and place of manufacture printed on the packaging to choose safe products.