Beware of "dirty" food during Tet

(Baonghean) - Taking advantage of the high demand for food and groceries during Tet, many businesses have smuggled fake, counterfeit, and low-quality goods into the market...

As the days leading up to Tet approaches, the warehouses containing counterfeit and fake goods confiscated by the Environmental Police Department, Provincial Police, are getting fuller day by day. Taking us to see the goods that have just been confiscated in the past 10 days, Major Nguyen Huy Quan - Team Leader of Team 4, said: There are many poor quality goods being sold on the market. Many goods are counterfeited so sophisticatedly that consumers cannot distinguish them with the naked eye or without careful consideration.

Environmental police check counterfeit goods.

One of the shipments that Team 4 has just seized is more than 2,000 bottles of vinegar labeled "Hoa Gao Rice Vinegar", located at 31/4C Tuan Phuc - Phuoc Vinh - Hue City. In terms of appearance, this product is very similar to many products that are still sold in mass markets in the province. Consumers when buying the product must also be very confident because the production address is clearly written on the packaging, the stamp and the expiration date is June 20, 2016...

According to Major Nguyen Huy Quan: All of these goods are poor quality goods that were just confiscated from the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu and Mr. Pham Van Phuc in Hamlet 3, Hung Chinh Commune, Vinh City on January 20. Although called vinegar, all of these products are simply made by mixing cold water with acid. When caught red-handed, the owners of these two goods confessed that the vinegar was produced to serve people's needs during Tet. The price of a bottle of vinegar sold on the market is from 900 to 2,000 VND (only 1/4 of the price of similar products).

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time this facility has been arrested (the last time was in 2010). However, despite the fines, the owners of this facility still operate and openly put poor quality products into the market. Also at Mr. Pham Van Phuc's facility, Environmental Police Team No. 4 also discovered many other food products of unknown origin such as cotton floss, spices for cooking canned meat...

Checking food hygiene and safety at confectionery stores in Kim Son Town (Que Phong) - Photo: Van Thanh.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Viet Nhi - Deputy Head of the Environmental Police Department, Provincial Police, said: Tet is the time when the demand for food consumption increases and is a favorable opportunity for greedy businessmen to smuggle fake and poor quality goods into the market. If this is not controlled in time, it will cause extremely serious harm and directly affect the health of consumers. The tricks of the subjects are increasingly sophisticated, they operate regardless of the lives of users and recidivism appears more and more.

For example, at the slaughterhouse in Hamlet 15, Thuong Son Commune (Do Luong), 1 year ago, the Environmental Police Department discovered a subject injecting dirty water into cows to increase their weight to sell for profit. On January 14, 2016, Nguyen Tat Xinh, residing in Hamlet 15, Thuong Son Commune, was caught red-handed for similar behavior. According to his initial confession, just by injecting more water into the cows, their weight could increase by 15 - 20 kg. With the current price of beef near Tet, just by successfully injecting 1 cow, the subject can earn a profit of 1,000,000 - 1,500,000 VND.

According to the assessment of the authorities, currently in Nghe An province, dirty food, fake goods, counterfeit goods appear in many different forms and always pose a risk of food safety. Among them, there are items that are labeled as originating from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City but in fact the exact origin cannot be determined.

MSG of unknown origin sold at Cong Thanh market (Yen Thanh) - Photo: Van Truong.

In addition, there are many sophisticated counterfeit products such as cotton floss, minced meat made from dirty meat, fresh bamboo shoots soaked in sulfur... Especially around Tet, due to increased demand, processing facilities use ingredients of unknown origin, especially meat and organs to make spring rolls and ham.

In January 2016, the Environmental Police Department also seized a shipment of 8 barrels containing 1,600 liters of dirty fat. According to the statement of Hoang Van Son (Hamlet 3, My Son Commune, Do Luong), all of this fat was purchased from restaurants and hotels in Vinh City and brought to rural areas for consumption. Through inspection, most of the fat after being fried many times had decomposed, very easily creating harmful substances that cause cancer.

To ensure food safety during the Lunar New Year, Mr. Tran Dang Ninh - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, Head of the interdisciplinary inspection team also advised people to be careful and choose the right goods before buying. They should look for reputable businesses with labels and full expiry dates. At the same time, they should be careful with expired goods or goods of unknown origin.

On the province side, continue to strengthen information and propaganda work on laws, knowledge of buying, selling and consuming safe food. In addition, the organization directs the establishment of inspection and examination teams in localities, focusing on products from meat, fish, eggs, cakes, jams, candies, vegetables, etc., which are groups of goods with high demand.

My Ha