The Time of Honesty

(Baonghean) - At this time, dirty food is being sold everywhere in the market, and its danger has reached an alarming level. From vegetables, meat, fish, vermicelli, cakes, shrimp paste, fish sauce, dipping sauce, chili salt, tomato sauce... to other spices, most of them are contaminated, right from the production stage or later from the processing and preservation stages.

At a session of the 13th National Assembly, delegate Le Thi Nga commented: “The problem of dirty food has pushed people into a “dilemma”. If we don’t eat, we cannot survive. If we eat, we are leaving our fate to chance, illness, and who knows when it will come”! Also during this session, delegate Tran Ngoc Vinh said a sentence full of images, surprising the listeners: “The shortest path for us Vietnamese people today is the path from the stomach to the cemetery!”

Indeed, dirty food is the number 1 cause of all kinds of diseases, weakening the health of the race, reducing the competitiveness of the economy, and degrading the national image in the eyes of the international community... According to information from the National Cancer Conference, every year in our country, on average, 150,000 people get cancer, of which 75,000 people have cancer caused by dirty food. From the current situation of food safety violations in our country, the Party, Government, and National Assembly have paid great attention to this issue. It can be said that the legal framework for food safety is complete; however, food safety violations are still increasing, to the point of being alarming.

According to some National Assembly deputies, we can see the following reasons: Firstly, recent cases of poisoning, trading in banned substances, and production and processing of dirty food have been continuously updated and exposed by the press, but assigning responsibility to management officials is rarely done, or is done in a perfunctory manner, not in line with the urgent spirit stipulated in circulars and decrees. Secondly, although the sanctions are appropriate, it can be said to be quite severe, the handling is not strict, and there are also cover-ups, negativity, and "collusion" in the handling of sanctions. There are very few cases of criminal prosecution. Thirdly, a part of consumers still have a resigned mentality, are not determined to say no to dirty food, have not fought, have not denounced those who produce, process, and trade dirty food. Fourth, the Consumer Association is not strong enough to guide, direct and take unified measures to boycott all types of dirty food that have appeared and are circulating on the market.

When food safety and hygiene is an emerging issue that is very urgent and difficult in life, we need to take many measures to solve it. According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, "we are focusing on controlling the production and trading of pesticides, chemicals, and antibiotics. Ministries and sectors have been focusing on handling banned substances that the public is concerned about. Initially, we have achieved success, significantly reducing and eliminating the source of banned substances imported into the country. Up to now, the use of banned substances in animal feed production facilities is very rare, only in some farms and small-scale livestock households. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is working with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Public Security to continue handling it."

Thus, we believe that the campaign "Say no to dirty food" has been launched and is being enthusiastically responded to by the whole population. Although there are many difficulties and challenges ahead, it will certainly be victorious.

The question is, at the moment when dirty food is polluting the market, how should we think about how to counteract, turn difficulties into advantages, turn challenges into opportunities? Obviously, at the moment when everyone unanimously says no to dirty food, it is also the time when the demand for clean food is on the rise. This is a golden opportunity, a great opportunity for clean food manufacturers, processors, and traders to honor their brands, regain the trust of consumers, and take over the business market to gain the highest share in the clean food market.

We believe that, at this time, any enterprise or company that knows how to seize the opportunity, knows how to organize production, knows how to establish a circulation and distribution system to convince consumers, will certainly have a period of prosperous business, and lay a long-term foundation for sustainable development. Necessity is the mother of invention. At a time when dirty food is rampant, causing frustration in the psychology of consumers, it is also the time that opens up great opportunities for the business of those who know how to produce and do business honestly...

Litmus