The market doesn't have any pipe hearts, but they're sold online, and the price is incredibly cheap.

cigarette butt - Photo 1.

Selling offal on social media at a low price - Screenshot

While large-scale slaughterhouses and traditional market traders shake their heads when asked about "not even enough to eat" the intestines used to make cigarettes, this item is widely sold on the online market. Dozens of accounts advertise for sale every day, promising "fresh, rare goods, available for any order".

Slaughterhouses and traditional markets rarely have pipe intestines.

At a slaughterhouse that slaughters more than 1,000 pigs per day in Ho Chi Minh City, on the morning of May 7, the director of this enterprise told Tuoi Tre Online that in recent days he has received many calls asking about the product of pork intestines used to make cigarettes, but there are no products available.

"It's rare to find a piece of intestine bent like a cigarette. If there is, it's only a few grams, there's no way to collect enough to sell by the kilo. People are exaggerating," he said.

Not only at the slaughterhouse, long-time traders at many traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City also expressed surprise at the name "cigarette intestines".

Ms. Thien Kieu (living in Phu Nhuan district) said she often buys pig intestines to prepare dishes, especially from familiar sources at Ba Chieu market, Pham Van Hai market, Xom Chieu market... but has not been able to buy the type of intestines that are made into cigarettes.

"My son-in-law once asked me to buy pork intestines to boil and dip in shrimp paste. I went to the market to order in advance from a familiar supplier but they couldn't find any. They said they had intestines, liver, and intestines, but I had never seen the so-called pork intestines. I heard that the intestines are rare and twisted like a cigarette. Even people who have sold pork intestines for a long time at the market lost because they didn't have this product," said Ms. Kieu.

Some other traders also believe that the pig intestines are exaggerated because in actual slaughter, pig intestines sometimes have a slightly twisted part of the intestine due to nature, but it is not as special or rare as advertised.

However, on Facebook, Zalo... customers only need to type in the keyword "long se dieu" and there will be hundreds of posts for sale with pictures of "white, evenly twisted, cleanly packaged small intestines", along with advertisements for selected products, crispy, fatty, and rich.

An account named NN in a food sales group with more than 34,000 members sells pork belly with the introduction "fresh, not frozen, fragrant and fatty, only available to those who order in advance". This person also recorded a close-up video of each tray of pork belly, emphasizing "Ho Chi Minh City still has regular, beautiful supplies".

Notably, most sellers avoided being asked about the origin, only affirming that it was "selected goods, fresh intestines, not frozen" or labeling it "domestic pipe intestines, not Chinese goods". Meanwhile, some others "attracted" customers by declaring that even if they had money, they would not be able to buy it if they were slow.

The market doesn't have any pipe organs, but they're sold online, at incredibly cheap prices - Photo 2.

Frozen cigarette butts were once sold in large quantities on some social networking sites - Screenshot

Price chaos

According to a survey by Tuoi Tre Online , the price of pipe intestines on the internet fluctuates greatly. The wholesale price is offered from 12,000 to 40,000 VND/kg, and some places sell it for 65,000 VND/kg... However, this price is wholesale, meaning you have to buy 10kg.

Some sources also said that this type of product is imported from China at a price of about 120,000 VND/kg, then resold in Vietnam at a price many times higher.

On the contrary, at restaurants, especially those specializing in drinking dishes, offal and intestines are touted as rare specialties with prices in the millions.

Mr. Manh Chau, who loves boiled pork intestines with shrimp paste, especially likes the small, crispy twisted intestines dipped in shrimp paste.

"Every time I go to Ba Chieu market to buy intestines, I ask the seller to help me choose small, white intestines that are crispy and rich, but they always say they don't have any. I thought I bought them at the wrong time. But when I scrolled through Facebook, I saw people selling them by the kilo, saying they were rare and only available to VIP customers.

When I go out drinking, I usually order offal. Now I'm confused, not knowing what I ate, and whether the food online is as advertised," said Mr. Chau.

Faced with this unusual situation, Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan - Director of the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City, said that pig intestines are a very rare product in regular slaughter.

The fact that this product is being sold widely on social networks, in large quantities and at high prices, may be an act of commercial fraud, even showing signs of deceiving consumers.

The Department will conduct inspections and trace the origin of products called "cigarette cores". If any additives or chemicals are used to create the shape, or if frozen goods are smuggled, strict action will be taken according to regulations.