Economy

Tightening the fight against counterfeit goods and trade fraud - Part 3: Smart consumption

Reporter Group • DNUM_AJZAHZCACF 11:24

As mentioned in previous articles, nowadays, all kinds of goods, especially food, are sold everywhere and in many types and forms, from raw materials to pre-processed products, sold directly at stores or sold online to meet all market needs. However, not all foods are healthy and safe. Therefore, the problem is: Each person needs to be a "smart consumer" to protect their own health and that of their family.

As mentioned, nowadays, goods of all kinds, especially food, are sold everywhere and in many types and forms, from selling raw materials to pre-processing, selling directly at stores or selling online to meet all market needs. However, it is notNot all foods are healthy and safe. So the problem is: Everyone needs to be a "smart consumer" to protect their own health and that of their family.

Warning "online market"

Late afternoon on July 2, because of work, Ms. Tran Minh Anh in Truong Vinh ward, Nghe An province chose to "shop online" to prepare dinner for her family. "As long as I have a smartphone with internet connection, on busy days, I often order prepared food from familiar addresses. Although buying ready-made food like this is more expensive, plus the delivery fee of about 15-20 thousand VND, people with quite busy working hours like me often have to choose" - Ms. Minh Anh said.

When asked about the quality and origin of the food she often orders online, Ms. Tran Minh Anh said that she buys mainly based on trust and gradually becomes acquainted with the seller. Even those who sell processed food in traditional markets and stores with the label “clean food”, customers like her are not sure about the quality and origin of the ingredients and food they buy to eat.

In fact, many women using smartphones have access to many sources of goods for sale on the Internet through applications and sales accounts such as Shopee, Lazada, TikTok, Facebook, Zalo, etc. In particular, on the Facebook application, there are hundreds of individual accounts as well as groups and associations selling food, processed ingredients as well as pre-processed and pre-processed dishes. For example, the groups: "Food Market - VINH City", "Vinh Snacks"... with tens of thousands of members participating. In these groups, pre-processed food items are sold publicly, ranging from cakes, sweet soups, colorful fruit juices to family dishes with a variety of ingredients from fish, meat, vegetables, spices, fruits, dishes for parties... Most of these dishes are sold at cheaper prices in stores and compared to consumers buying ingredients to prepare themselves.

There have been many cases of food poisoning due to trusting food online. Last June, due to her busy work schedule, Ms. Phan Tu Thao, born in 1996, an office worker at a company in Truong Vinh ward, proactively ordered lunch online for four female colleagues. The meal was ordered from a familiar office lunch selling account on Facebook, which often posts pictures of full, eye-catching lunch boxes with the advertisement "delicious - clean - fast delivery to your door". Each meal costs 50,000 VND, including rice, braised pork with eggs, braised fish with pickles, stir-fried vegetables, soup and a small dessert.

That lunch went by quickly as usual, but around 2 pm, some people in the group started to feel full, had a dull pain in the lower abdomen, and then had mild diarrhea. Ms. Thao and her colleagues had to stop working and go to the pharmacy to buy digestive medicine and mineral water. Fortunately, the symptoms were not too severe, but enough to make the whole group tired all afternoon. After the incident, Ms. Thao texted the seller to report the situation but received no response. Frustrated, Ms. Thao shared the story on the Facebook community group where she had seen the advertisement. Many people confirmed that they had experienced similar situations when ordering meals from this address. Since then, Ms. Thao and her colleagues have agreed not to order meals from online sales accounts of unknown origin.

Cheap, pre-processed food "blooms"

According to the reporter's records, in addition to the reality of food being sold on social networking platforms, at many traditional markets and wholesale markets, there are also many shops selling fully processed food and it is often sold during rush hour. At Vinh market, in the late afternoon, in the food selling area to the west of the main temple, there are all kinds of carts and shops selling pre-processed ingredients and cooked food such as salads, roast meat, cakes, etc. It is worth mentioning that these shops sell food in an unsanitary environment, with damp surroundings, lots of dust and smoke, and many places are covered with mud and organic waste that gives off a strong stench.

At Hung Dung market in Truong Vinh ward, in the late afternoons, there are often many stalls selling cooked food such as meat, braised fish, various types of melons, pickled eggplants, chicken feet, fried sausages, ham, pork intestines, etc. Observations over the past few days show that these stalls have a large number of customers, many of whom are familiar with the shop owners and rarely ask about the origin of the ingredients. Due to reasonable prices and convenience, these items are all sold out in a short time.

In particular, fast food on the streets has become a familiar choice for many people, especially students and workers. However, behind the convenience and cheap price, there are many potential health hazards, especially when dishes such as sausages, fried spring rolls, Chinese sausages, kumquat tea, yogurt, soy milk, etc. do not ensure food safety and hygiene. These items are often sold every day, especially at night on major roads, school areas, tourist attractions, night street days, and walking streets in Nghe An. Here, it is not difficult to come across street stalls selling fried foods in black oil pans, used over and over again. Sausages, fried spring rolls, or Chinese sausages are all processed foods, containing a lot of salt, preservatives, and colorants. If stored improperly or left at room temperature for a long time, these products can easily deteriorate and become contaminated.

Drinks such as iced tea, yogurt, and soy milk sold on the street also pose many risks. Many establishments, for profit, mix them with poor quality ingredients, using colorants and industrial flavorings of unknown origin. The water used is sometimes untreated tap water. These drinks are often stored in reusable plastic bottles, which pose a risk of contamination with disease-causing microorganisms. When consumed, people are at risk of digestive disorders, food poisoning, and even long-term accumulation of toxins that damage the liver and kidneys. Although they know the dangers, many people still buy and use them for only 10,000 VND.

In addition to processed foods, the cheap buffet model has also appeared in many cities across the country in recent times. In Nghe An, this buffet model has also appeared on many streets in Vinh city (old) such as Nguyen Huy Oanh, Tran Dang Dinh, Vo Thi Sau, Nguyen Van Cu... For only 100,000 VND, people can eat freely dishes such as beef, pork belly, tripe, intestines, sliced ​​squid, octopus, chicken, shrimp...

These foods are all coated with colorful spices. Many dishes show signs of being frozen multiple times, leaking water, and even smelling bad. In reality, once the issue of food costs is put into business calculations, the cheap buffet model will reveal its true form as a "gamble" with the health of consumers. For example, 1 kg of beef on the market costs about 200,000 VND, so it is impossible for only 100,000 VND, diners will be served countless dishes, there is no way to have fresh, clean food.

Propaganda and recommendation of smart consumption

Recently, authorities across the country have discovered, arrested, and prosecuted many organizations and individuals who have committed fraud, counterfeiting, imitation, and poor quality goods. This information has been made public and widely disseminated in the media. In Truong Vinh ward, in the residential group of the old Hung Dung ward, in response to warnings about the "epidemic" of dirty food, counterfeit, and poor quality goods, many housewives often remind each other to practice "smart consumption" so as not to affect their own health and that of their families, as in the case of Nguyen Thi Thuong and her children.

Before the Lunar New Year 2025, Ms. Thuong's son went to work in Taiwan, but because he often ate processed foods and drank a lot of bottled soft drinks, after a short time, Ms. Thuong's son suffered kidney failure and was treated at a hospital in Taiwan for more than 1 billion VND but did not recover. Ms. Thuong and her husband sold their land and moved house to have money to bring their son back to the country for dialysis and treatment. However, because the kidney failure was severe and could not filter the blood, Ms. Thuong had to donate a kidney to transplant to her son. After nearly half a year of treatment with billions of VND in costs, Ms. Thuong and her son have gradually recovered and returned to normal life with a prescribed diet.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuong expressed that food of unknown origin, not guaranteed quality, is especially harmful to consumers' health. In the case of her son, just a short period of negligence in choosing good food, continuously using too much of it has led to such consequences. Through her family's incident, Ms. Thuong also wants to remind housewives and women to always be alert, consume wisely, and teach their children to stay away from toxic foods, foods with toxic risks, especially canned foods, fast foods, and soft drinks.

In the city, in the border areas, people's lives are still difficult, and the awareness of buying genuine products is even more difficult. For them, buying expensive products, a pack of candy worth tens of thousands of dong, is a matter of consideration. Mr. Luong Van Manh, Tien Phong commune shared: "If I see it is cheap, I buy it, but I don't know if it is real or fake. Just looking at the beautiful packaging makes me trust...".

The psychology of wanting cheap goods, the lack of knowledge about goods, combined with the vast mountainous terrain and difficult transportation, makes the people in the highlands almost completely dependent on the supply of goods from traders or mobile carts. These street vendors, which are not regularly inspected or monitored, have become the main source of supply for many remote villages. The relationship between sellers and buyers is simply “acquaintance – trust – purchase and sale”. But that is what makes it easy for fake and poor quality goods to infiltrate every household in the highlands.

To protect themselves, consumers need to comply with the provisions of the law in commercial transactions, exchange of goods in the market, change shopping habits, resolutely say no to fake goods, counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin. People need to equip themselves with knowledge and information to become smart consumers, choose to buy products with clear origin, with legal invoices and documents, when buying and selling goods and services, there must be documents and invoices to protect consumer rights when complaints and disputes occur.

One of the simplest and most effective solutions today is to check the barcode and QR code on the product, allowing users to easily look up information about the origin, place of manufacture, ingredients, etc. in just a few seconds. For legitimate goods, the returned information will be complete, clear, and consistent with the packaging. Meanwhile, counterfeit goods often have barcodes that cannot be retrieved, or lead to ambiguous, incorrect data.

In addition to barcodes, it is also important to carefully observe the packaging, anti-counterfeit stamps and labels. Genuine products often have packaging that is printed clearly, of good quality, without spelling mistakes or smudges. Anti-counterfeit stamps, if any, must be intact, not peeled or overwritten. Another clear sign to be wary of is the selling price being too low. Items with "unusually cheap" prices, 50-70% off the usual listed price, are suspicious. Many cases have been recorded in which consumers bought fake cosmetics, functional foods and Western medicines just because they were cheap, leading to serious health consequences, even death.

Therefore, smart consumers are not only interested in cheap prices, but also ask questions such as: "Is this product of clear origin?", "Why is it so cheap?", "Is the seller trustworthy?". At the same time, if violations are discovered, consumers need to promptly report them to the authorities to protect their rights as well as cooperate with law enforcement agencies to detect and denounce violations, prevent smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the area.

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According to the report of Nghe An Department of Health, in the first 6 months of 2025, inspection and examination of food production and trading establishments were carried out on a large scale. A total of more than 4,000 establishments were inspected, of which 104 establishments violated, mainly food service and street food establishments. The total amount of administrative fines was nearly 183 million VND. In addition, in the first 6 months of the year, there were 2 food poisoning incidents, causing 45 people to be infected but no deaths. Compared to the same period last year, there was an increase of more than 1 case.

(To be continued)

Reporter Group