Quyen Leo's family sells bird's nest for 20,000 VND/jar: What do experts say?

Recently, Quyen Leo and his wife (Mr. La Quoc Quyen and Ms. Nguyen Lan Anh, or Leo) - one of the famous livestream KOCs in the domestic market - unexpectedly entered the top search with bird's nest products priced at 20,000-25,000 VND, even only 15,000 VND.

This has caused consumers to question the quality of the bird's nests that the couple has been selling recently.

How to distinguish fake bird's nest

According to Dr. Huynh Tan Vu, Head of the Daytime Treatment Unit, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City - Branch 3, bird's nest has long been considered a precious food, especially in traditional oriental medicine.

Bird's nest is not only a delicious dish but also contains many essential micronutrients that the human body cannot synthesize, bringing benefits to many age groups.

Bird's nest is a nutritious food, bringing many benefits to users (Photo: TL).

However, not everyone should use it, and the current bird's nest market has many fake and poor quality products that affect health.

"Eating bird's nest soaked in bleach of unknown origin will cause stomachache. Over time, it will increase the risk of cancer in the body," the doctor emphasized.

In addition, fake bird's nests contain impurities that can damage the stomach lining, leading to intestinal cancer. When used for a long time, consumers will suffer from diseases such as liver failure and kidney failure, which directly affect their health.

The outstanding feature of real bird's nest is the overlapping, interconnected layers of fibers that look like loofah fibers. The interwoven bird's nest fibers can form an arc shape.

Meanwhile, fake bird’s nest is made from a mixture of sugar and starch. Therefore, the bird’s nest fibers look unnatural and unreal. The fake bird’s nest fibers are tightly interwoven and much smoother than real bird’s nest.

Doctor Vu also gives 3 ways to distinguish between real and fake bird's nests.

Taste and check the sweetness of the bird's nest

In this way, people just need to take a small strand of bird's nest and taste it. Real bird's nest will not taste too sweet, it will taste like egg white. If it tastes sweet, the bird's nest may have been mixed with sugar to create stickiness.

Bird's nest under sunlight

Real bird's nest under sunlight, the bird's nest fibers are opaque white and light can pass through. Meanwhile, fake bird's nest when exposed to light, the bird's nest fibers will have a reflective phenomenon and be transparent white.

Identify by the expansion of the bird's nest

On average, real bird's nest will expand 6 times when soaked in water. When steamed for 30-40 minutes after expansion, real bird's nest fibers will never dissolve. On the contrary, fake bird's nest after being processed will only expand very little because it is covered with impurities, so it becomes rough and cannot expand.

Doctor Vu warned that bird's nest is becoming more and more popular, causing fake bird's nest to appear everywhere on the market. People should research carefully to avoid buying poor quality products, which can have a negative impact on their health and that of their family.

What does the business world say?

A handmade bird's nest item sold on the market (Photo: TL)

Talking to Dan Tri, the owner of a bird's nest brand said that there are 3 types of ready-made bird's nest on the market today.

The first type is industrial bird's nest, the cheapest, convenient, easy to buy, but contains additives, uses preservatives so has a shelf life of up to 2 years. This type often uses broken bird's nest instead of regular whole bird's nest to ensure cost benefits.

"However, currently on the market there are some types of low-quality broken bird's nest imported from Indonesia and Malaysia with very cheap prices, much cheaper than Vietnamese bird's nest. The quality of this type of bird's nest is not necessarily guaranteed in terms of nutrition," she revealed.

The second type is sterilized bird's nest, which is a branch of industrial bird's nest but has better quality and is safer than the first type. Instead of using preservatives, this type uses high temperature sterilization technology so the maximum shelf life is one year.

The third type with the highest price is fresh bird's nest hand-cooked from 100% pure bird's nest fibers, fresh, delicious, highly nutritious, good for health but has a short shelf life (3-10 days) and must be stored in the refrigerator.

"When buying pre-cooked bird's nest, customers should use the second or third type to ensure the best quality.

The groups of people who regularly use bird's nest are children, sick people, the elderly, and pregnant women. Using bird's nest that is too cheap and of poor quality may not be effective and may even have negative effects on health," she said.

The owner of a bird's nest business assessed that if she were to "ask" her facility to produce a jar of bird's nest with a selling price of 20,000-25,000 VND, it would be impossible.

According to this person, a glass jar (to hold bird's nest) already costs 4,000-5,000 VND, plus production costs, advertising costs, seller's profit... In total, the production cost is much higher than the above number.

The products that Quyen Leo Daily advertises are under the brand name The Gioi Yen Sao - Nguyen Thuy. The product label states that it is manufactured by The Gioi Yen Sao Group Investment Joint Stock Company, manufactured in Ben Cat City, Binh Duong; the product is of Thuy The Gioi Yen Sao Business Household, with Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy as the legal representative. Ms. Thuy is also the legal representative of The Gioi Yen Sao Group Company Limited (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City).

However, currently, on the TikTok Shop cart of the account The Gioi Yen Sao - Nguyen Thuy has removed all pre-cooked bird's nest products, only selling self-cooked bird's nest sets. Some videos advertising this product on the TikTok channel of Quyen Leo Daily and his wife are also inaccessible.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/gia-dinh-quyen-leo-ban-yen-sao-20000-donghu-chuyen-gia-noi-gi-20250515015701962.htm