Many candies of unknown origin are sold in the highlands of Nghe An.
In the mountainous area of Nghe An, the number of people buying candy has increased during this Tet holiday. Among thousands of mixed products in markets, shops and kiosks, it is difficult for people in the highlands to distinguish between real and fake products when buying Tet goods.
Candy of unknown origin is sold everywhere.
On the occasion of Lunar New Year, the market for goods, especially confectionery of all kinds, has increased sharply compared to normal days. What is worrying is that many types of confectionery of unknown origin, with illegal labels... are sold in markets, shops, and kiosks in mountainous areas, posing a potential risk of food safety and hygiene for consumers during Tet.
At Hoa Binh market in Thach Giam town, Tuong Duong district on the morning of January 22, many types of candy of unknown origin were openly sold by vendors. These types of candy were packaged carelessly, with no information about the place of production.
Cheap candies such as stuffed candy, gummy candy… are packed in plastic bags weighing 5-10kg/bag for retail sale to customers. Inside the packaging is a piece of paper with the production address and expiration date, however, the confusing thing is that the production date is written in ballpoint pen ink. This makes customers wonder and worry.
The situation of confectionery of unknown origin, expired goods... is still being sold in many other areas. At Muong Xen market (Ky Son), according to our observations, there are some types of confectionery of unknown origin, with labels arbitrarily written with the production date in ballpoint pen ink.
Mr. Xong Ba Chong in Muong Ai commune and his wife went to Muong Xen market to buy Tet candy and wondered: Tet candy and cakes are sold everywhere at kiosks, but it is very difficult to buy products with guaranteed quality, because the buyers themselves cannot tell which are real and which are fake.
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When asked why the labels were written in ballpoint pen, the seller said that all the goods were imported from traders. Small traders only know how to import goods and then sell them to customers.
Another worrying situation is that expired confectionery products are also sold at some stores in Thach Giam town (Tuong Duong). Through the inspection of the interdisciplinary team of Tuong Duong district in coordination with Thach Giam town on the morning of January 21, 2025, it was found that there were rice paper products with the production date printed on the packaging as March 24, 2024, the expiration date until November 24, 2024, so the expiration date has been 2 months.
Food products with unknown addresses and no expiration dates are also sold at mountain markets. Vendors say that because the goods are imported in large boxes, each box has only one piece of paper with information about the goods and expiration date, so the expiration date is not printed on the packaging of each package. This makes it impossible for customers to know the expiration date of the product when buying retail.
Strengthen inspection
To minimize the situation of confectionery of unknown origin, expired goods... being sold to customers before, during and after Tet, from January 20, mountainous districts: Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Con Cuong, Que Phong... began to inspect goods at markets and kiosks in the area.
In Tuong Duong district, before Tet, 18 inspection teams were organized, of which 1 team was established by the district, the remaining 17 teams were organized by the communes. By January 22, the teams had inspected 369 establishments. The inspection showed that some businesses had not properly implemented food safety regulations such as: trading in some types of expired food, food of unknown origin, etc.
Accordingly, the delegations discovered 3 establishments in violation and imposed administrative penalties; the quantity of goods destroyed included 91 bottles of various types of soft drinks, 116 packages of various types of instant noodles, and some expired cooking oil and candy. In addition, they also reminded some kiosk owners who sold items that did not ensure food hygiene and safety.
“The difficulty for the facility is that the district-level food safety management has not yet been allocated funds to purchase machinery and equipment to conduct sampling and rapid testing of food safety indicators. The officers performing food safety work in the agricultural sector at the commune level all have to hold concurrent positions, and the management area is large, so the food safety management work at the commune level is not really effective. Therefore, it is recommended that the provincial functional forces assigned to be in charge of the district need to regularly coordinate more closely with the district's interdisciplinary team in inspection and examination work to achieve better results,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ky Son district said: From January 21 (December 22) to March 10, 2025, the District People's Committee will deploy the work of ensuring the Lunar New Year and the Spring Festival season of 2025 in the district, according to the established plan. In particular, the focus is on implementing well the communication activities to ensure food safety to food production and business establishments and consumers.
Through inspections at a number of candy and beverage stores in Muong Xen town and the communes of Huoi Tu and Pha Danh, the general situation was that many candy products had unknown origins, were expired, or had unclear expiration dates, etc. Accordingly, the delegation mainly promoted and reminded businesses to practice good food hygiene and safety, and encouraged people to choose to buy products with clear origins.
