Cigarette inner tubes for sale online: A trick or commercial fraud?

Inspecting "cigarette cart" business establishments in Ho Chi Minh City

According to Ms. Tran Thuy Van (owner of a pig farm in Dong Nai ), the intestines of the pipe car are also called two-skinned intestines, a rare pig by-product that feels chewy and crunchy when eaten. Every night, the slaughterhouse kills about 1,000 pigs and can only collect about 1kg of this by-product. In terms of shape, the inside of the intestines of the pipe car has a lot of wrinkled mucosa like ripples and is sold at a very high price, from 2 to 3.5 million VND/kg. "If there are intestines of the pipe car, the slaughterhouse owner also saves them for his family to eat and does not sell them on the market as advertised," Ms. Van shared.

“The Cigarette Car” is widely advertised online. Photo cut from clip

Because it is rare, the 40m long pipe cart as shown in the video online quickly caused a stir in public opinion, many people affirmed that this was an "exaggerated" and fraudulent advertisement. Many YouTubers and TikTokers who had eaten and promoted the shop selling pipe carts were also called out by the online community.

Following the information in the press and on social networks, Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, Director of the Department of Food Safety (ATTP) of Ho Chi Minh City, stated that the sale of cigarette butts in the market is an act of commercial fraud to increase profits. Currently, the Department of Food Safety has been inspecting a number of establishments and taking samples of this item, testing for factors harmful to health; at the same time, tracing the origin and clarifying whether there is any counterfeiting or not.

The Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety also took responsibility for the fact that in the past, they only focused on monitoring and tracing the origin of pork in the Ho Chi Minh City market, but did not pay attention to this specific product. "In the immediate future, the act of overdoing it to sell at a price nearly 10 times higher than normal pork offal products can be punished for commercial fraud," said Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan.

Currently, the origin of the pipe intestines being sold on the market is a big question mark. Many people are concerned about the risk of goods of unknown origin, goods from sick pigs, dead pigs. There are even suspicions that the pig intestines are soaked in chemicals to create unusual shapes. There is still no exact explanation for the natural mechanism of pipe intestine formation as well as the outstanding nutritional value of this food.

Rare but valuable?

For a long time, pig intestines have been a popular dish in our country and are a favorite menu of many people. However, this is not a nutritious dish for health. According to Associate Professor Nguyen Duy Thinh, former lecturer at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, animal organs in general contain a lot of protein, cholesterol, purine, iron, zinc... Therefore, consuming too many animal organs increases the risk of dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, increased risk of gout and diabetes... The condition will be more serious for people with underlying diseases.

Hanoi authorities discovered nearly 11 tons of foul-smelling animal organs about to be smuggled into the market during the recent holiday season. Photo: PHUC HAU

MSc. Le Thuan Linh, Head of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Thu Duc City Hospital, emphasized that eating pig intestines with alcohol will increase the risk of harm. Alcohol makes the liver work harder to eliminate ethanol, while slowing down the process of eliminating uric acid. Therefore, when combined with purine and cholesterol from animal organs, the liver is overloaded, easily leading to chronic hepatitis, impaired liver function, and even cirrhosis. In addition, intestines are the part of the intestine that contains digestive waste, often containing many bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, E.coli, or worm eggs. If not cleaned thoroughly and cooked completely, the eater may suffer from acute diarrhea, food poisoning, or dangerous parasitic infections.

“People should choose animal organs from reputable places with clear origins, and proactively prepare them at home to control food safety issues. Each meal should be limited to less than 100 grams, and should not be eaten regularly,” Dr. Linh advised.

It is noted that in restaurants and bars, pig intestines and animal organs in general are very popular. Many restaurants use frozen products for processing but still introduce them as hot or fresh, confusing customers. On the internet, frozen pig intestines are also openly sold at cheap prices, making consumers even more wary.

The Department of Market Management and Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that the authorities have just seized 7 tons of offal (pig intestines, cow tripe, chicken intestines...) without documents at a cold storage of Duc Tan Saigon Company (Thanh Tri, Hanoi) - worth more than 664 million VND. Previously, on April 28, nearly 11 tons of beef and smelly offal were seized at 3 cold storages in Phu Xuyen district (Hanoi).

On April 21, 20 tons of food including chicken, salted meat, and poultry organs were discovered in a warehouse in Ha Vy market (Thuong Tin district, Hanoi), most of which had a bad smell and was watery. The department said it is coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security to strengthen inspections and propose increasing criminal penalties for the production and sale of dirty food.

GIAO LINH - PHUC HAU

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/rao-ban-long-xe-dieu-ram-ro-tren-mang-chieu-tro-hay-gian-lan-thuong-mai-post794224.html