Checking counterfeit goods and fake functional foods: A needle in a bag

A batch of fake functional foods worth up to 100 tons was discovered and seized by the police - Photo: Provided by the police

Former Director of the Food Safety Department (Ministry of Health) Nguyen Thanh Phong and a number of officials of this department have just been prosecuted and detained by the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security for signs of violations and bribery related to the production and trade of hundreds of tons of fake functional foods.

This is information that consumers support, showing that the handling of counterfeit goods is strictly enforced after a long time this problem caused many consequences to society.

In recent days, the story of more than half a million fake milk products that have existed on the market for nearly 5 years has made public opinion and consumers still indignant.

When information about the former leader of the leading agency controlling food safety was arrested for signs of "colluding" with businesses producing counterfeit goods, the anger of consumers about counterfeit goods seemed to be "resolved" because the authorities had handled it to the "final checkpoint".

Fake food, fake milk and many other counterfeit goods have been rampant in the market for many years. Why have they not been detected?

Why do businesses that violate commercial ethics still not get caught? Why are consumers, no matter how smart, still fooled by the many fake products on the market?...

Faced with countless questions about why this is so, many reasons have been raised such as the lack of responsibility for inspection, overlapping functional areas, and also the reason of receiving "bribes" from some of the very people responsible for managing and controlling these items.

In today's market, food in particular and goods in general, to ensure that they reach consumers, must often go through two "doors" of pre-inspection and post-inspection.

For medicine and milk for children under 3 years old, pre-inspection is required; for food in general, management of production and business lies in post-inspection.

Many stages such as business licensing, production, quality control, distribution, retail to consumers..., according to regulations, each stage must have a management and supervision agency.

But according to the report of the National Steering Committee 389, in the first 4 months of 2025, units and localities arrested and handled more than 34,000 violations.

Of which, more than 8,200 cases of trading and transporting prohibited and smuggled goods; more than 25,100 cases of commercial fraud and tax fraud; more than 1,100 cases of counterfeit goods and intellectual property violations; more than 4,897 billion VND were collected for the state budget; nearly 1,400 cases were prosecuted, with more than 2,100 subjects...

These huge numbers are the answer to the fact that fake milk, functional foods, and counterfeit goods have been a problem for many years and were only discovered after many years on the market, when there was a complaint. And the reality shows that many cases "go back to normal" after being checked and handled!

The State regulates food safety management within the scope of agencies from central to local levels.

Although many agencies manage together, the control is... not coordinated, overlapping, so it is ineffective.

In addition, the loophole lies in the laxity of authorities in pre- and post-inspection, which is exploited by traders, allowing counterfeit goods to appear on the market.

And this is also a "fertile ground" for the "needles" who are the officials who "cover" the fake goods, ignore them and make profits. That is why fake food is smuggled into the market, harming consumers and society.

In addition to businesses having to put commercial ethics first and comply with the law in production and business, it is important that management agencies fulfill their responsibilities and especially not allow "bad apples" to exist in the system.

Any "needles" must be "pulled out" for stronger handling, to restore a healthy business environment, ensuring that goods reaching consumers are safe and of good quality.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/kiem-tra-hang-gia-thuc-pham-chuc-nang-gia-cay-kim-trong-boc-2025051509025122.htm