Horrifying pig intestines are cleaned with... boots

The organs were piled up on the brick floor. A few people held spray hoses in their hands and their boots were still covered in feces and sewage. They stomped on each pile of organs with all their might.

A bowl of worms and parasites

While in Western countries, animal organs are only used to make food for pets, in Vietnam, animal organs are a “favorite” dish and considered nutritious. Not only are fresh organs available to meet the “instant” needs of the people, but more and more shops selling stuffed intestines and cooked stomachs are springing up, and food hygiene and safety conditions are… extremely filthy.

At a large-scale slaughterhouse in Thanh Oai district, although this is a modern slaughterhouse, fully equipped with tools and equipment with a capital of hundreds of billions of dong, the entire slaughtering process is done manually, with rudimentary equipment, and does not ensure hygiene. The slaughterhouse is divided into two separate areas: the general slaughterhouse and the organ processing area.

This bunch of intestines in a plastic bag was once thrown on the dirty ground and cleaned with... boots.

At the slaughterhouse, hundreds of pigs were butchered right on the cement floor. Next to it was a pen holding pigs waiting to be “reborn”. On the floor, in addition to blood, urine, and hair, pig feces were scattered everywhere, giving off a strong stench. After the pigs were slaughtered, the staff used their boots to trample on the meat and used water hoses to wash it, creating a pool of black, foul-smelling water that stagnated all over the slaughter floor. The organs, after being separated from the pig’s body, were piled up on the brick floor. A few people, holding spray hoses and wearing boots still covered in feces and wastewater, used all their strength to stomp on each pile of organs and then threw them in a corner, waiting for the traders to collect them and sell them to the market.

According to a trader who comes here to buy goods, the organs are sold by slaughterhouses at very cheap prices, only about 20,000-30,000 VND/kg for good intestines. After collecting enough goods, these traders will bring them to the tap outside the slaughterhouse and wash them again to remove any remaining feces inside.

Enjoy your meal freely

At the markets of Nga Tu So, Nghia Tan, Gia Lam... fresh pig intestines are quite popular. According to traders, these products often "sell out" very early. The price of this item ranges from 60,000-90,000 VND/kg depending on the type. Pre-processed pig intestines are much more expensive. If a kilo of pork costs about 100,000 VND/kg, then pre-processed pig intestines cost from 400,000-500,000 VND/kg.

Every afternoon, stalls bring back from somewhere a full load of hot, white, fragrant offal, stomach, liver, intestines... However, what few diners pay attention to is the origin and safety of these foods.
At Ngoc Lam market (Long Bien, Hanoi). The whole market has about a dozen stalls selling cooked food. There are tables set up in the middle of the intersection, without cabinets or plastic bags covering them. There are tables selling both fresh pork and cooked pork intestines. A small cutting board is used by the owner to slice fresh pork for customers, and also to slice cooked pork intestines. If a customer complains, she quickly takes out a crumpled, discolored face towel to wipe it off roughly.

Everything was 100% exposed on the table with all kinds: small intestine, large intestine, intestine, stomach, blood sausage, liver... The saleswoman also left her hands exposed without even a single plastic glove as a formality. Here, stomach was sold for 30,000 VND/100g, pig intestine was 40,000 VND/100g and sausage was 23,000 VND/100g... "What do you want to eat, I'll get it for you", the shop owner asked as she quickly lifted each type and placed it in front of the customer each time she read the name.

“We just wash it roughly to get rid of the feces and worms. But when consumers buy it, they have to rub it with salt to clean it thoroughly…”, said a person working at the slaughterhouse.

According to Ms. Thuan (a food business owner at Ngoc Lam market): "Because it is a favorite dish of many people, especially men who like to "drink", pig intestines, stomachs, throats... often sell very well; besides, because each pig only has one set of intestines, the price of this food is quite expensive...".

Within 15 minutes of standing at the counter selling stuffed intestines and cooked stomachs, the reporter witnessed dozens of people stopping by to buy. With her hands quickly cutting, then dipping them into a pot of boiling water, then quickly scooping them out and pouring them into plastic bags, adding a few handfuls of raw vegetables, a half-cut lemon... the shop owner packed and weighed the goods for customers as fast as a machine.

When asked why she didn't use anything to cover the dirt from the intestines that were exposed to the street for sale, she clicked her tongue: "Don't worry, there's a pot of boiling water here, dip it in and all the bacteria and germs will die." After saying that, she glared: "If you're afraid of getting dirty, buy raw intestines and cook them, my dear. Stand aside for the saleswoman." Unfortunately, after dipping them in boiling water, the shop owner's hands directly pick up and wrap the intestines for customers. And those hands haven't been washed all day.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bac (Nguyen Nhu Tiep, Long Bien, Hanoi) shook her head: “The other day my husband went to the market and bought half a kilo of pre-processed stuffed intestines and pig stomach. When I put the food on a plate, I discovered that on a few pieces of stomach there were unusual green-black “spots”. Upon closer inspection, I realized that because the person who prepared it didn’t wash it properly, there was still… feces. I was so scared that I threw it all in the trash. I wasted nearly 200,000 VND, and I was annoyed by the unhygienic behavior of the sellers. Since then, my family has completely avoided the stuffed intestines and cooked stomach sold in the market. If you like to eat them, you can buy them and prepare them yourself…”.

Dishes made from animal organs pose a high risk of disease, because there are currently many traders who smuggle animal organs of unknown origin, even rotten ones, and then deliver them to processing stores or markets for sale. Surely many people are still shocked to learn that the authorities have repeatedly seized tons of rotten animal organs, smuggled from China, then cleaned them with chemicals and then sold them to people at exorbitant prices, so there is a very high risk of disease.

A recent investigation by the Food Safety Department shows that 70-90% of Hanoi street food has an E.coli infection rate, with the highest risk being mixed salads, fermented pork rolls, ham, intestines, stomachs, etc. According to this investigation, the hands of people providing this service are very dirty. In Hanoi, the rate of E.coli infection in the hands of people providing street food is up to more than 40%.

According to Gia dinh.net - TL