Imported beef 60,000 VND/kg is sow meat?

Indian beef or buffalo meat, "magic" sow meat is very difficult to recognize.

Information from the authorities also said that the amount of imported frozen beef has not increased recently, only cheap frozen Indian buffalo meat has been imported in large quantities.

After a period of lull, recently in the market of Ho Chi Minh City, there has been a reappearance of surprisingly cheap beef, advertised on websites and even openly sold by some food businesses.

According to some imported frozen food suppliers, imported "beef" is even sold for only 70,000 VND/kg, only 1/3 of the price of fresh beef sold on the market.

For example, at a frozen meat supplier in Binh Tan district, Indian "beef" is sold at the lowest price of 68,000 VND/kg (brisket), 70,000 VND/kg (tongue), ribs and brisket cost 95,000 VND/kg, tenderloin costs over 120,000 VND/kg.

With many years of experience in trading imported meat, the director of a food business in Ho Chi Minh City affirmed that it is impossible to sell frozen beef and lean beef shoulder in Vietnam for 60,000-70,000 VND/kg.

"This price is equal to the wholesale price in countries with developed cattle farming industries, while meat imported to Vietnam has to bear many costs such as taxes, transportation fees, and business profits... Therefore, there is only one way to explain this phenomenon: people sell buffalo meat but say it is beef, and this is smuggled buffalo meat that is so cheap," he commented.

Ms. Truong Thi Dong, Director of Trung Dong Company Limited (Dong Nai), which specializes in importing cows for slaughter, affirmed that imported "beef" being sold at only 70,000 VND/kg is unlikely to happen.

According to Ms. Dong, it was a product of unknown origin, without invoices or documents and it was uncertain whether it was beef or not.

According to Ms. Dong, whole Australian beef imported to Vietnam is currently priced at over 70,000 VND/kg live weight, and after the slaughtering and cutting process, it cannot be sold at such a cheap price.

"Because the price of frozen beef in Vietnam has been unusually cheap recently, many units that import whole cows from Australia for slaughter like us have had to reduce imports because they cannot compete," said Ms. Dong.

You should buy food at reputable places. In the photo: beef for sale at a market in Ho Chi Minh City.

At a food business in Tan Binh district, where frozen Indian "beef" was being sold for about 100,000 VND/kg, when we asked to see documents proving its origin, the supplier admitted that this was actually buffalo meat imported to Vietnam.

Because consumers are familiar with the name Indian beef, they keep introducing it as Indian beef. "I have all the documents certifying imported frozen buffalo meat," he said.

According to some food importers, frozen buffalo meat officially imported from India to Vietnam costs about 2.3-3 USD/kg, equivalent to 50,000-70,000 VND/kg.

Adding import tax (about 20%) and storage costs, not to mention the importer deliberately lowering the import price to avoid tax, the selling price of only 70,000 VND/kg is already profitable.

In addition, recently there have been many shipments temporarily imported to northern ports for re-export to China but sold in the domestic market as authorities have warned.

"When it comes to the market, without any documents to prove it, and consumed mainly in restaurants, bars, and processing facilities, it is very difficult to distinguish between beef and buffalo meat," said the director of a business.

Sources from veterinary agencies also said that while the amount of imported frozen beef has not increased dramatically recently, the amount of buffalo meat imported from India to Vietnam is quite large.

But whether or not a trader "magically" turns buffalo meat into beef to sell on the market requires market management to step in and check.

An officer from the Ho Chi Minh City Veterinary Department added another possibility: imported beef at around 70,000 VND/kg is most likely "magically" transformed sow meat.

This person said that recently the veterinary agency has discovered many cases of "magically" transforming pork, especially sows, into beef, deer, ostrich, etc.

"Sow meat has the same color as beef, you just need to buy more seasoning and it's done. After being "magically" packaged, the products are labeled as imported goods and the selling price is also surprisingly cheap. It is also possible that imported beef has expired and the packaging has been removed by the importer and sold off to recover capital" - this person analyzed.