Consumers need to be alert to "mixed gold and copper" functional foods.

At this stage, there are many "mixed" functional food products on the market. When reading advertisements on mass media, people must improve their understanding when choosing products.

Dr. Truong Hong Son - Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Medical Association, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Applied Medicine said so at the seminar "Community health care - sustainable solutions for development," organized by Nhan Dan Newspaper and Felecia Brand on the morning of September 18 in Hanoi .

Doctor Son said that at the Vietnam Institute of Applied Medicine, there is a research center specializing in product evaluation, analyzing the ingredients to see the theory of the past 10 years, how this product is evaluated, which organization allows it, how transparent it is before making a declaration file. Recently, many people have brought products to the Vietnam Institute of Applied Medicine with the purpose of evaluating the quality of the product, after there was a lot of information that functional food products did not meet the standards as announced.

According to him, the recent lesson in Vietnam is that there are many products that take shortcuts, bring registration documents to the management agency and provide scientific papers of the brand. These management agencies rely on the scientific papers of the brand that are not provided independently, so they accept the advertised products into the market, leading to unfortunate stories. If the brands themselves provide, there will always be weaknesses, plus the management agency does not control tightly, which will create loopholes.

“Therefore, I think the management agency must review the process of approving products sold in Vietnam and whether the messages about the products are reasonable, based on research, have scientific evidence, and have an independent unit responsible for transparency in order to grant licenses,” analyzed the Director of the Vietnam Institute of Applied Medicine.

Mr. Tu Quang - Master of Nutrition - Physical Activity and Public Health (Military Medical Academy) said that the situation of "listening to advertisements" when choosing functional foods, instead of consulting medical professionals is quite common. Overcoming this situation requires a process and the participation of the whole system, not only with nutritionists but also the participation of society.

In nutrition research, there is the concept of "information illiteracy." People who grasp information about nutrition will know how to choose food, prepare meals, and organize meals to ensure nutrition, as well as to suit the economic conditions of each individual and each family.

Experts discuss at the seminar. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

Dr. Quang pointed out that, in addition, people often access information by word of mouth. They hear "buy this, buy that, it's very good" and go buy and use it without knowing whether these foods are suitable for their bodies. For example, many people often tell each other to use calcium to strengthen their bones and buy calcium pills to take. However, if used in the wrong dosage, this can lead to unhealthy conditions, leading to some diseases in the body.

Dr. Phan Bich Nga - Head of the Department of Pediatric Nutrition Examination (National Institute of Nutrition) said that in developed, industrialized countries, people have a wide understanding of the use of nutritional supplements, health protection, and medical nutritional foods and have good knowledge to buy them. However, in Vietnam, knowledge about nutritional supplements and support to prevent micronutrient deficiencies is very important but not widely known.

In the diet, if you cannot ensure that natural foods contain enough micronutrients and minerals as required (vitamin D, Omega 3, active ingredients), and ensure active ingredients that are good for the body, especially for those at risk (people who are sick, malnourished, people with chronic diseases, poor nutrition, premature babies, etc.), you should supplement with foods rich in immune-boosting substances.

At the seminar "Community health care - sustainable solutions for development," experts presented a comprehensive picture of the current state of community health; Effective nutritional and disease prevention solutions; The role of support products such as colostrum and algae essence for everyone in improving resistance and proposed solutions for transparency in the health supplement market.../.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/nguoi-tieu-dung-can-tinh-tao-truoc-thuc-pham-chuc-nang-vang-thau-lan-lon-post1062588.vnp