American beef imported to Vietnam for only 10,000 VND/kg: The truth behind the widespread rumors

In recent years, not only Australian beef, American beef has also flooded the market, covering all supermarkets, stores, "online markets", especially American beef belly. Because, the price of this type of American beef belly sold to consumers only fluctuates from 150,000 - 240,000 VND/kg depending on the type.

Many people wonder why American beef brisket is so cheap, but because of its low price, this type of beef is popular with consumers.

However, recently, on Facebook, the online community has been sharing at a dizzying pace information about American beef belly imported into Vietnam at only 10,000 VND/kg being expired.

Specifically, many shared information: “Going all over the streets of sidewalk grills and hot pots, every table has a full plate of American beef. Going into buffet restaurants, the first waiter always brings out a full plate of Australian beef or American beef. There are even cheap grill restaurants that organize buffets for only 100k/person (pv - 100,000 VND/person) to eat as much meat as you want - some students even eat a whole kilo, so why isn't the restaurant losing money? Supermarkets that sell pre-sliced ​​American beef also sell 150,000 VND/kg.”

“Have you ever wondered why the price of imported beef is so cheap?” - this Facebook account asked and said that he had a time running a restaurant, the price they offered was 70,000 VND/kg, sometimes only 50,000 VND/kg. He had been importing it to sell for several months, although he also wondered about the price of the meat.

“One day, a kitchen manager who has worked in the hot pot and grill industry for many years shared that the price off the container was only 10,000 VND/kg. After hearing that, I suddenly felt cold and immediately stopped selling American and Australian beef,” BO shared.

According to this Facebook account, the price is cheap because it is expired meat that must be destroyed abroad, but Vietnam imports it to eat, and the origin is unclear, and it is unknown what chemicals are in it. In addition, meat that has been left for a long time and turns black must be soaked in chemicals to give it a nice color.

“Many times, the authorities have discovered dozens of tons of expired imported beef containing carcinogens. Nowadays, we are afraid of eating anything, but in my opinion, limiting the amount of things that are harmful to health is the right thing to do,... ”, this account wrote.

The above information has caused a stir in the online community, many people are confused by this rumor. Because, American beef, especially American beef belly is a favorite and popular dish of many families today.

Speaking to the press at the March 2 press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Dam Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that Australian and American beef imported into Vietnam is strictly controlled.

Mr. Thanh said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Circular 25 in 2010 on food safety. According to this circular, foreign factories and slaughterhouses wishing to export to Vietnam must have their documents assessed by the Department of Animal Health, and if necessary, they will be inspected in that country. Only factories that meet the requirements will be included in the list of exporters to our country.

All types of meat shipments, including American and Australian beef, when imported into Vietnam, must be stored and sampled for 100% inspection at the border gate, not inspected in the post-inspection style according to regulations on labels, product names, production dates, and expiration dates. If they fail to comply, they will be fined, and secondly, they will be forced to re-export, and if they cannot be re-exported, they will be destroyed.

Illustration photo.

"Regarding American beef, the Department of Animal Health has not yet discovered any shipments that are close to the expiration date or expired being imported into Vietnam, because shipments that are close to the expiration date will be penalized," Mr. Thanh affirmed.

According to Mr. Thanh, the Veterinary Department does not control import prices. However, there are products that Vietnamese people like, but foreigners do not like. For example, chicken breast, beef belly, beef brisket, beef brisket are not popular with Americans, so the prices will be cheaper.