Falling back with 'grass milk': Very hot advertisement, unclear quality

"Exploding" miraculous effects

Consumers, especially mothers with young children, have long been passing around the phrase “grass milk”. This is not a scientific name but a type of milk given by agents to little-known products that are widely sold on the market. The ingredients that make up “grass milk” are advertised as imported from abroad, then the importing unit will process and can it themselves.

In the role of a milk buyer, Tien Phong reporter recorded several stores around the National Children's Hospital, where many types of milk with strange names but attractive advertisements such as "produced according to European technology and standards", "imported ingredients from Europe", "No. 1 Japanese production line"... were sold openly.

For example, the Origold product priced at over VND300,000 is advertised to help increase height, with powdered milk ingredients imported from New Zealand; Wellforce Milk priced at VND365,000/800g box has colostrum ingredients imported from the US; Grow Plus by Sure Milk or Procare Colos for weight gain, increased resistance with ingredients imported from the US...

There are many types of milk advertised as having imported ingredients sold at pharmacies and milk shops near hospitals.

Ms. LD, a saleswoman at a milk agency (on La Thanh Street, Hanoi) revealed: "Grass milk" often attracts consumers because it is significantly cheaper than similar products on the market. This type of product is often sold on grocery and pharmacy shelves just 2 weeks after applying for a food safety certificate. In terms of ingredients and origin, the milk powder of "Grass milk" is imported of unknown origin, the quality has not been tested, information about labels or brands is almost non-existent or very difficult to find on the market.

According to the reporter's research, on the market, "grass milk" for nutrition, weight gain, and height increase for children is currently the most popular group. These products are often advertised as containing a lot of DHA, calcium, vitamins... or "explode" with miraculous effects such as outstanding height increase, rapid weight gain, brain tonic... without being based on scientific evidence.

Even now, there are many types of "grass milk" for the elderly, the elderly with bone and joint problems, diabetes, cardiovascular disease... but there is no functional unit to verify, causing buyers to be overwhelmed with product chaos. For example, Chitose nutritional milk for the elderly from Japan, Sure Asia Gold advertised to help recover from weakness, or Neslac, Pixilac, Optimilk calcium Nano Care "exploded" to help support osteoporosis, degenerative spine, numbness in limbs, difficulty walking...

Buying "grass milk" is easier than buying vegetables

On social networking sites and online sales channels, "grass milk" is still "making waves", covering all channels and almost overwhelming famous brands.

Just type the phrase “baby formula” in the search engine or social network, a series of milk products for children with prices ranging from tens of thousands to millions of dong immediately appear. Most of the products have eye-catching and colorful labels and are advertised very “attractively” by brands such as: Healthy immunity - baby gains weight, sleeps well, grows quickly, enhances intelligence, develops height; increases 3-5 cm after 3-6 months…

A series of bone and joint milk and height-increasing milk products advertised as imported raw materials from abroad are widely advertised on e-commerce platforms.

On e-commerce platforms Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, images and clips record the words of doctors and nutrition consultants about these types of "grass milk" with beautiful words to attract customers. These products are all given very strange names, with unclear origins on the packaging and are advertised by celebrities and TikTokers, so buyers only need to click the confirm button to have their orders delivered immediately.

Typically, Colosmil calcium supplement milk, Galaxy bone and joint milk, Pixilac bone and joint milk, Goldlay Sure Gold milk, Galaxy bone and joint milk... weigh 900g and cost only 150,000 - 190,000 VND/box.

Ms. Pham Thi Hue (in Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi) said that when she first went online to buy milk for her child, she was very confused because there were too many types and the inspection papers were similar.

"There are products of all prices, so I can't tell the difference between real and fake, and I don't know if the quality is as promised. I searched online and found that tens of thousands of people regularly ask and wonder like me," said Ms. Hue, adding that the current baby milk market is no different from a mess, with consumers mostly relying on luck to buy products, and not knowing the quality.

On Facebook, consumers have also created many groups, including “Anti-grass milk - check grass milk” with tens of thousands of members. Most of the posts in this group ask whether the milk products their children use belong to the “grass milk” group, showing that consumers are truly in the middle of a “matrix”.

What did the doctor say?

Dr. Truong Hong Son - Director of the Vietnam Institute of Applied Nutrition - said that "grass milk" has main ingredients of sugar and fat, hitting the psychology of wanting children to gain weight quickly. These are mostly types of milk processed from imported raw materials. However, raw powdered milk has many different grades and qualities. There are low quality types, very cheap prices, packaged in bags, bought and then boxed, labeled with similar names, almost like the types of milk of famous companies with brands on the market.

Consumers are confused among the types of milk advertised as having imported ingredients, but few brands and cheap prices on the market.

According to Dr. Son, these products usually exist for a short time, about 6 months to 1 year on the market, because after consumers realize that this is poor quality milk, the processing facility changes the label, name...

“In terms of nutritional content, grass milk may not provide enough energy or vitamins and minerals as stated on the ingredient list on the box. Therefore, when using this type of milk, the elderly and children are at high risk of nutritional deficiencies or malnutrition. At small establishments, it is very difficult to have a closed production and packaging line and ensure food safety and hygiene standards. Therefore, milk is very susceptible to bacteria and mold, causing users to experience problems such as digestive disorders, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, allergies, and even poisoning,” said Mr. Son.

To distinguish between quality milk and “grass milk”, the Director of the Vietnam Institute of Applied Nutrition noted that consumers of this type of milk often only advertise and sell on social networks, and hardly advertise on mainstream media and reliable platforms. When buying milk, consumers should carefully read the information on the packaging and box such as: Product name, name and address, contact phone numbers of the manufacturer, importer and distributor, expiration date, nutritional ingredients table. If it is imported milk, it must have a secondary label in Vietnamese.

"If you see that the product packaging is smudged, not sharp, or has signs of erasure or the box is dented, you should absolutely not buy it," said Dr. Truong Hong Son.

Source TPO

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/nga-ngua-voi-sua-co-quang-cao-rat-boc-chat-luong-tu-mu-a189714.html