Controversy over customers reporting fake milk at Tu Bac supermarket

(Baonghean.vn) – Recently, information has been spreading on Facebook that Tu Bac supermarket (77, Dinh Cong Trang street, Vinh city) sells fake milk, causing confusion and worry among the public, especially parents with young children.

Customers accuse supermarkets of selling fake milk

At around 5:30 p.m. on July 15, a short clip was posted on the Facebook group "Nghe Tinh Mother & Baby Fair" showing a man throwing milk cartons from Tu Bac supermarket (77 Dinh Cong Trang street, Vinh city) in front of many people passing by.

Mr. Cuong - the person in the clip throwing milk all over the street in front of Tu Bac supermarket on the afternoon of July 14. (photo on Facebook)

According to initial information, this is the father of a 7-month-old baby who had to be hospitalized. This man said that after the baby drank Glico milk at Tu Bac supermarket, the baby showed signs of stomachache. The family took the baby to the emergency room and up to now, the baby's health has not recovered to normal after several days in the hospital. Thinking that he had bought fake milk, the man went to the supermarket to clarify and the above incident occurred.

After a short time, the above information was widely shared on Facebook. Most comments expressed confusion and worry because many families have long let their children use milk purchased at this supermarket. Not stopping there, many parents also spoke out to boycott Tu Bac supermarket products, asking authorities to strictly handle the sale of fake milk.

On the afternoon of July 15, Nghe An Newspaper reporters went directly to Tu Bac supermarket to find out information. Here, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bac, owner of Tu Bac supermarket, said: After the above clip was shared online, the supermarket's business activities were seriously affected, specifically the number of customers coming to the supermarket decreased significantly. In addition, many customers came directly, then called to return the goods, demanding a refund. But the biggest damage was causing confusion and anxiety for parents with young children when the incident had not been clarified.

According to the supermarket owner, on May 28, Mr. Cuong and his wife, Ms. Nhung (Vinh City), brought 3 boxes of milk, 2 of which were used up and 1 box was about 1/5 full, to the supermarket. There, Mr. Cuong said that after using the milk bought at the supermarket, his child had a stomachache and diarrhea. Furthermore, there was a strange blue object in the milk box. When the supermarket owner asked to seal the milk box and called the distribution company, Mr. Cuong left.

After receiving the customer's feedback, the owner of Tu Bac supermarket called to notify the distributor, SNB Distribution Company Limited (located on the 11th floor, Song Hong Building, No. 2 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi). On the morning of May 29, a company representative went directly to Nghe An to visit the customer's house to record the incident. After visiting the child, the company requested to return the milk box for quality assessment to determine whether the cause of the child's stomachache was due to the quality of the milk or not. However, according to Ms. Bac, this request was not approved by Mr. Cuong.

After many unsuccessful attempts, at around 5pm on July 14, Mr. Cuong went to Tu Bac supermarket. There, he asked to meet the supermarket owner, but the staff said the owner was away and asked him to wait. Ms. Dau Thi Lanh, a supermarket employee, said: Unable to meet the supermarket owner, Mr. Cuong took 2 cartons of milk and threw them on the street, then blocked customers from entering and not allowing them to buy. Mr. Cuong also told customers that the supermarket sold fake milk, and his child had a stomachache after drinking it.

Next, Mr. Cuong took 3 more cartons of milk and ran out into the street, throwing them everywhere. When the staff tried to stop him, Mr. Cuong slapped the staff.

Tu Bac Supermarket - where the incident happened.

Ms. Bac, the supermarket owner, said: When I returned, I saw Mr. Cuong throwing milk on the street. After about 10 minutes, the ward police and the 113 police arrived and invited both parties to the ward police headquarters to work. There, the ward police took statements from the parties involved and sealed the evidence.

Not enough basis

According to Ms. Bac, during the time the child was sick and had to be treated in the hospital, the supermarket regularly visited the hospital as well as the child's home. Furthermore, because the child's family said that the child could not work during the time he was in the hospital, the supermarket sent the family a gift of 30 million VND. However, Mr. Cuong still insisted that the supermarket and the company must be responsible for the child. At the same time, he requested that from now until his child grows up, the supermarket and the company must be responsible for taking care of him.

“We are just a retail product stall, not an agent of the company, so we cannot follow Mr. Cuong's request. Furthermore, the supermarket and the distribution company had the responsibility to visit and encourage the family when they learned about the incident. As for the family's claim that the cause of the child's stomachache was fake or poor quality milk, there is no basis for it. Thus, it cannot be said that the supermarket and the company are not responsible,” said Ms. Bac.

The mobile market management team (Market Management Department) came to inspect the Tu Bac supermarket.

To get multi-dimensional information, the reporter contacted Mr. Cuong to verify the information given by the owner of Tu Bac supermarket. Over the phone, Mr. Cuong said he did not have time at the moment and made an appointment with the reporter at another time. The reporter asked to have a quick conversation over the phone, but Mr. Cuong refused.

After receiving information on social networks, on the afternoon of July 15, the Mobile Market Management Team (Market Management Department) came to work at Tu Bac supermarket. Here, the market management force requested the supermarket to provide relevant documents.

Mr. Tran Van Toan - Deputy Team Leader, Mobile Market Management Team said: Through inspection at the supermarket, the authorities found that the business household was selling milk of many brands, including Glico milk, originating from Japan. Through the documents provided by the supermarket, it was confirmed that the milk sold at the supermarket had clear origins. In addition, the supermarket had full documents on quality declaration, labels, sub-stamps, certificates of conformity to food safety regulations of the Ministry of Health...

Documents proving the origin and quality of milk products provided by Tu Bac supermarket to the authorities.

According to Mr. Toan, to conclude whether the milk carton that the customer uses is of guaranteed quality or not, a sample must be taken for testing. However, the customer has not yet submitted a request, so it is not possible to confirm whether the milk is real or fake as reported on social networks. Therefore, consumers need to stay calm and not spread unverified information that has not been concluded by the authorities.

On the morning of July 14, a company representative went directly to meet the customer to inquire about the baby’s health. During the meeting, the customer agreed to let the company take a sample of the milk for quality assessment, and at the same time recorded the customer’s opinion to report to the manufacturer.

Pham Bang