Factory producing floss from cassava residue

For profit, people take pressed cassava residue, dry it, soak it in chemicals, whip it, season it, stir-fry it until golden, mix it with some real floss to make it “cassava residue” and sell it on the market at a cheap price. Eating this kind of floss can cause many diseases.

"Autumn pulp" floss is found in some retail stores.

"Aubergine residue" floss is flooding the market

“Taiwanese tapioca starch” floss is often sold at flea markets, bus stations, sidewalk sticky rice stalls, schools, hospitals, or fried rice shops… Walking past a few universities and hospital gates, we couldn’t believe that for only 5,000 VND, the amount of floss in the sticky rice package was a lot, not to mention the other spices.

At a wholesale market in Hanoi, we were surprised to see that the wholesale price of shrimp floss was extremely cheap, ranging from 80,000 - 100,000 VND/kg, cheaper than 1 kg of raw meat. To make 1 kg of shrimp floss, 3 kg of meat is needed, and with the current price of meat, it takes 270,000 VND of raw materials to make 1 kg of shrimp floss and it must be sold for 350,000 - 400,000 VND to make a profit.

Quoc Oai District, Hanoi is a locality with many “cassava residue” floss processing factories that are still “quietly” producing and releasing dozens of tons of “cassava residue” floss to the market every year. Cassava residue is collected from many cassava flour refining facilities in communes of Hoai Duc District, Hanoi.

Posing as someone who needs to buy a large quantity of floss to supply to food businesses, we contacted and found a floss production facility in Thach Than commune, Quoc Oai district, Hanoi.

Mr. B, the owner of the establishment, shared: “My family has all kinds, but if you sell wholesale, why would you buy the “genuine” kind? All the biggest restaurants buy this product. If you buy it from me at 85,000 VND/kg, I specialize in selling to big markets and restaurants at this price. On a busy day, I sell more than a ton of shrimp floss, and on some days, I don’t have any shrimp floss to sell. You can just buy this cheap kind and sell it, because if you sell the real thing, where will you make a profit? I’ve been doing this job for a dozen years now, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

Every day, Mr. B's floss production facility produces more than 50kg of floss made from cassava residue. In addition, this facility also provides super cheap ham and sausages from 60,000 - 110,000 VND/kg. This processing factory operates quite secretly, making it difficult for outsiders to access because all stages are carried out on the top floor of the 4-storey house, surrounded by corrugated iron sheets.

At this processing plant, cassava residue, after being collected from many cassava flour refining facilities, is bleached, dried and processed. According to Mr. B: “The finished cassava residue will be mixed with pre-made meat floss. Every 10kg of "cassava residue" floss is made from 7kg of cassava residue and 3kg of real floss.”

We wonder that the limitation is that cassava floss cannot be kept for long, after about half a month it will become damp and moldy and cannot be consumed.

Mr. B affirmed with certainty: "If you buy my products, you can rest assured that they will not get moldy for several months. When producing, I have increased the amount of preservatives. If they are moldy, bring them here and I will exchange them for you. I also sell to other provinces, not just Hanoi."

The technology to turn cassava residue into meat floss is quite simple. Just soak cassava residue with spices, whip it up, mix it with meat floss and sell it. The most important step is to soak it so that the cassava residue has a fragrant taste like real meat. Usually, cassava residue has been squeezed out of the powder, bleached, dried and then soaked with seasoning powder, salt and MSG, then a little color is added, and processed to make it look like real pork.

After this step, it is beaten, stir-fried until golden brown, and finally mixed with a little real pork floss to create a scent, then... shipped. The price of "cassava pulp" pork floss depends on the ratio of real pork and cassava pulp mixed. Mr. B calculated: "If the price is 80,000 - 100,000 VND per kilogram, the amount of meat is about 3 parts, the remaining 7 parts is cassava pulp".

While we were chatting with Mr. B, a regular customer of Mr. B came to get floss. He said: “I buy floss mixed with cassava residue from large facilities in Van Giang district, Hung Yen province and Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province and Mr. Binh's facility. Every 2 days I import tons at a time and deliver them. Many neighboring provinces such as Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang... also buy my products. The largest and fastest point of consumption is the people selling sticky rice and bread on the sidewalk, on average they sell 30 - 50kg of this type of floss every day.”

"100% of the dried shrimp sold at sidewalk sticky rice stalls are dried shrimp mixed with tapioca starch residue," he confirmed.

He cited: A tael of “genuine” floss costs 30,000 VND, if sold for 5,000 - 6,000 VND per sticky rice package with that much floss, he would go bankrupt. He also said that even though he is in the profession, it is difficult to tell at a glance that it is “cassava starch floss” because it is cooked and processed to have the same color as meat floss.

Unpredictable effects…

From what we have learned, cassava residue is a type of discarded fiber. When they are turned into floss, that “waste” is seasoned with flavorings and additives to deceive consumers.

Real and fake shrimp are mixed together and sold widely at school gates, flea markets, and bus stations.

In addition to not providing nutrients, they also cause digestive disorders, hindering nutrient absorption. Especially for young children, the digestive system is not yet complete, so it is very vulnerable. Children can choke because cassava pulp fibers are often tougher than normal. Not only that, fake foods made from cassava and rice flour require a large amount of preservatives.

Preservatives are highly toxic organic substances, widely produced in industry. They form stable compounds, do not rot, spoil, but are very difficult to digest. If used in large quantities, the user's eye mucosa becomes irritated and red. They also have the harmful effect of causing upper respiratory tract infections (runny nose, laryngitis, respiratory tract infections, bronchial asthma, pneumonia).

Causes allergic dermatitis, hives, slow digestion, digestive disorders, stomach ulcers, colitis... When exposed to or ingested in high concentrations, it can cause death. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen for many organs in the body: Increased rate of sinus cancer, respiratory cancer especially nose, throat, lung, digestive tract cancer...

To distinguish between meat floss and floss made from cassava residue, just soak the floss in water. If the floss fibers swell and feel soft to the touch, gradually changing from yellow to pale white, then it is a product made from cassava residue. Real floss when put in water will separate, but still retain its yellow color. If you are observant, you can identify real floss and fake floss with the naked eye. Real floss fibers are often large, round, not fluffy, and loose, while floss made from cassava residue has small, thin, and loose fibers. When eaten, cassava floss has a sweet taste of MSG, not the sweetness of meat. In particular, the more you chew cassava floss, the more chewy it becomes.

Nutritionist Professor Bui Minh Duc - Vice President of the Association for Science and Technology of Food Safety and Hygiene said: "Autumn pulp is a type of fiber, after all the starch has been removed, it is best to discard it. Shredded meat made from this type of pulp no longer has nutrients, and is completely ineffective for human health. On the contrary, through the process of marinating and processing without ensuring hygiene, the risk of bacterial contamination of the dried meat is very high. The latest test results conducted by the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health also showed a worrying situation. That is, the number of meat floss samples did not meet the content, had many chemical sweeteners, were contaminated with E. coli (bacteria that cause diarrhea) and preservatives at high levels - accounting for 53.3% of the tested samples".

According to Tien Phong