Quickly rectify the business of specialty products of unknown origin

Tam Dao town, Tam Dao district is preparing to step During the tourist season, many specialty products such as dried persimmons, red apples, almonds, dried apricots, chestnut cakes, etc. are sold by many traders. Notably , most of these products do not have the address of the production facility, expiry date, and the owner of the facility cannot present invoices or documents. Therefore , the Food Safety Interdisciplinary Inspection Team has increased the dissemination of related regulations; requested localities and competent authorities to coordinate in reviewing and handling violations to rectify the above situation.

Recently, the Food Safety Interdisciplinary Inspection Team chaired by the Department of Industry and Trade inspected the compliance with food safety regulations at a number of business establishments in Tam Dao town.

At Chinh Trang grocery store , Tam Dao town, the amount of goods is relatively large and diverse, attracting many tourists to buy processed foods such as dried apricots, chestnuts, strawberries, chestnut cakes, chayote cakes, etc.

Dried apricots of unknown origin are sold in stores.

In the large glass cabinet of this business, dozens of eye-catching green, red, yellow, etc. dried fruits are displayed on trays by vendors for sale to tourists. The bright green of kiwi slices, the deep red of apricots and plums, suggest an industrial dye used in processing.

Or the dried persimmon products are roughly packaged , divided into small pieces on foam trays, wrapped in cellophane to sell to customers. All of these specialty products have no labels, even the bags of almonds packaged in plastic bags only have the words "almonds". The owner of the facility cannot provide documents or records of origin with the reason ... they are at home.

Many people wonder, since when has chestnut cake become a specialty of Tam Dao?

As for chestnut cakes, some are labeled “Tam Dao Specialty” and others are labeled “Northwest Specialty” even though they are sometimes produced by the same facility. Notably, some chestnut cake boxes do not have the address of the production facility or an expiration date.

On the packaging of the cake boxes, the manufacturer recommends "Product should be kept at room temperature for 3 days, refrigerated for 7 days" but the most important content, the production date, is not included.

Thus, it can be seen that chestnut specialty cakes have a short shelf life and spoil quickly . The lack of a production date makes it difficult for consumers to control the expiry date. In other words, consumers can easily buy products that are close to or have expired, posing a potential risk to food safety.

A row of specialty shops in Tam Dao town.

Explaining this issue, the owner of the Chinh Trang grocery store said that the chestnut cakes are sold out as soon as they arrive at the facility, there is no inventory, so there is no expired product. However, any reason given by the retailer is not accepted , because the product does not comply with food safety regulations, which is a violation.

Not to mention, the number of visitors to Tam Dao town is only high on the weekends, if the goods are not sold out in these 2 days, and are left over for the following days, there is a risk of expiration (due to the short shelf life, only 3-7 days). This can easily lead to the situation of mixing expired cakes with products that are still valid to sell to tourists.

In addition, many people wonder and ask: Is chestnut cake a Tam Dao specialty? Certainly not! Through that, we can see that the phrase specialty has been used and is being used by production facilities in an easy way, even abused for the purpose of profiteering.

For example, chestnut cake is considered a Tam Dao specialty, but when asked, even the business owner does not know where this product is produced. Or the product "Tam Dao su su cake specialty" is not produced locally but in Huong Son commune, My Duc district, Hanoi city.

According to the reporter's records, not only Chinh Trang business establishment, in Tam Dao town there are many shops selling similar specialties, without clear origin.

Head of the Food Safety Interdisciplinary Inspection Team Phan Anh Thong ( Head of Trade Management Department) - International cooperation, S in Industry and Trade) said: "Through inspection work, it shows that most of the grocery stores in Tam Dao town are hired by small traders to sell goods, so the inspection process encountered many difficulties.

In addition, there is also a situation of trading products of unknown origin; products without production date or expiry date. There are even products with the Tam Dao brand but not produced in Tam Dao, or taken from other places and sold...

On that basis, the Working Group has clearly pointed out the existing problems and violations and disseminated legal knowledge to business owners/households. To raise awareness and responsibility in business as well as compliance with food safety regulations, it is recommended that specialized agencies and local authorities organize training for small traders; strengthen rectification, inspection and handling of cases of intentional violations.

Thereby, gradually guiding small traders to trade in specialty products with clear origin, ensuring quality service for tourists and consumers , contributing to enhancing the value and image of Tam Dao tourist area .

Article and photos: Ha Tran

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