Tons of vermicelli noodles are being dried by producers along the embankment of the Day River, in the section passing through Duong Lieu commune, Hoai Duc district (Hanoi), regardless of the dust and dirt, and even being left for dogs to defecate on and chickens to forage for food daily.
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| The Duong Lieu craft village (Hoai Duc district, Hanoi) has been making noodles and vermicelli from cassava and arrowroot since the 1960s. Currently, 2,800 households are involved in production, generating over 300 billion VND in revenue annually. However, many unsightly scenes and negative impressions remain due to the lack of serious environmental and food safety practices among the households. |
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| Towards the end of the year, the people of Duong Lieu village begin producing large quantities of noodles and vermicelli to serve the Lunar New Year celebrations in Hanoi and some northern provinces. |
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| According to the process, vermicelli noodles should be dried immediately after production. However, the village fields, which are usually rented out for drying, have become overloaded. An anonymous villager said that each plot of land is rented for 2 million dong per year. But there are few fields, they are far from the road, and the rent is expensive, so people dry the noodles by the roadside for convenience. |
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| This "convenience" offered by the producers has created numerous food safety and hygiene problems, as the dike road along the Day River, where the vermicelli is dried, is a busy thoroughfare. Every time a car passes by, people on the road have to cover their noses to avoid the dust, while the vermicelli drying racks are left completely uncovered. |
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| The noodles are being dried in a pond filled with black water discharged by some of the production facilities. |
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| The vermicelli and noodles are sold right next to a canal that emits a foul odor. It is known that the Duong Lieu noodle-making village discharges 13,000 cubic meters of wastewater into the environment every day. Much of this wastewater is not treated but discharged directly into the irrigation canal system, then flows into the Day River, polluting the entire river. |
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| Cassava peels are often dumped directly into the fields. The noodles are then dried right on top of the piles of peels that are in the process of decomposing. |
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| Due to the strong wind, the rolls of dried noodles fell to the ground. |
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| Besides the dust and smoke, the dogs and cats that roam freely here also frequently defecate on the drying racks of vermicelli. |
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| Some chickens roam freely, foraging for food. These sheets of vermicelli, after being dried, are packaged and transported for sale to consumers. |
According to Zing.vn
