Fake food, a real threat.

Food, including food and drink, is an essential need in people's daily lives. Therefore, ensuring food safety and hygiene is always a key factor, playing a decisive role in protecting public health.

• Tolerating counterfeit drugs and food is tantamount to aiding and abetting crime.
• Implement decisive measures to prevent and combat counterfeit medicines, counterfeit food, and counterfeit cosmetics.
• We are determined to eradicate crimes related to the production and sale of counterfeit medicines and food products.

Currently, the widespread trade in counterfeit and substandard food , using chemicals exceeding permissible levels for preservation and processing, is causing confusion and a loss of trust among consumers, even in legitimate production facilities. Counterfeit foods are often made from low-quality ingredients containing harmful impurities such as heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, mold, or additives exceeding regulated levels. Long-term consumption not only causes poisoning but also severely damages the liver, kidneys, nervous system, and other internal organs. Children, pregnant women, the elderly, people with underlying health conditions, and cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to the effects of consuming counterfeit milk, functional foods, and nutritional drinks with fake labels.

To ensure food safety and hygiene, consumers should choose to buy food that is still within its expiration date and is fresh.

Recently, authorities, including those in Ca Mau province, have continuously uncovered numerous cases of counterfeit and substandard food products. However, this is only a small part of the countless fraudulent acts silently harming consumer health. Many essential food items are mixed with fakes, produced poorly but falsely bearing the names of reputable brands before being released onto the market. These products are mainly consumed in industrial kitchens, serving unskilled workers. Worryingly, they are distributed through social media, e-commerce platforms, and traditional markets, including rural markets, where consumers still trust and choose food for schools, hospitals, and industrial zones. Using tactics such as low prices, promotions, and deep discounts, these individuals exploit consumer psychology to sell substandard food.

For essential canned food items like milk, consumers should choose products with clearly stated origin, expiration date, and reputable brands in the market.

Mr. Truong Thanh Tu, Head of the Inspection Department of the Ca Mau Provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department, said that during the peak inspection period from May 15th to June 15th on essential goods such as milk, fresh food, packaged food, and functional foods, authorities discovered several food businesses that did not meet safety and hygiene standards. The violations mainly involved fresh food, processed food, confectionery, beverages, and some types of functional foods. The Sub-Department has recommended that the competent authorities handle these cases according to regulations, and will continue to coordinate with other agencies to strengthen inspections and promptly rectify violations, in order to protect the rights and health of consumers.

Consumers should choose to buy clean rice from reputable shopping centers and distributors to avoid using low-quality rice that may contain chemical residues.

"The long-term use of substandard food, especially counterfeit functional foods, can lead to many serious consequences such as poisoning, allergies, metabolic disorders in the digestive system, and even cancer. Furthermore, it deprives patients of the opportunity to detect early signs of illness for timely treatment, resulting in wasted time and money and significantly impacting their health," said Dr. Lam Thuan Hiep, Head of the Examination Department, Ca Mau Provincial Center for Disease Control.

Clearly, although these are just contaminated or counterfeit foods, the harm to consumers' health is real. This is because it not only directly affects the quality of daily meals for many families, but it can also affect the lives of many people who consume these substandard products.

Phuong Vu

Source: https://baocamau.vn/thuc-pham-gia-hiem-hoa-that-a40085.html