Cheap food - short-term benefits, long-term harm

In daily spending, most consumers have the same mentality of trying to choose to buy foods that are both cheap and convenient but still provide enough nutrition for family meals, especially for ordinary workers and people with low incomes.

However, in reality, not all cheap foods are safe, especially meat, eggs, and fish.

Uninspected food sold on the roadside always poses a risk of poisoning to consumers.

Recently, the authorities have continuously discovered many cases of slaughtering, transporting, trading, and processing food... from substandard foods of unknown origin such as: sick or dead livestock and poultry, spoiled or degraded food; vegetables, tubers, and fruits with many residual chemicals that can cause poisoning or cancer in the long term for consumers. The main consumers of these substandard foods are: some collective kitchens; cheap roadside eateries, sidewalk eateries; at train stations, bus stations; bus stops; spring roll, ham, and sausage production facilities; low-income people...

Daily reality shows that, in order to save on family living expenses due to low wages, most workers at factories and companies operating in Ca Mau province often have the habit of choosing to buy cheap foods at spontaneous markets in front of the company gate or along traffic routes after work, without paying much attention to the origin and quality of the food. This always poses a very high risk of food safety and hygiene.

Ms. Hong Thu Trang, a seafood processing worker for export at Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, said: “The salary of both my mother and I, including overtime pay, is only about 15 million VND per month. And our two families have 6 or 7 mouths to feed. Therefore, we buy from places that sell cheaply and that we know well. Recently, I saw the press reporting on the situation of selling dirty meat and food that does not meet hygiene standards, many people were poisoned, so I am very worried. But if we go to supermarkets or shopping centers that meet standards, our salary will only last for a few days. Now we can only rely on the honesty of the sellers.”

Consumers should choose to buy clean, quarantined and branded food to ensure hygiene and safety for their family's health.

Unsafe foods always pose a high risk of causing illness to consumers, because they contain many bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are directly harmful to consumers' health. Not to mention heavy metals, banned or excessive antibiotics, residues of pesticides, growth hormones; preservatives; moldy foods... but are offered and sold at cheap prices. More dangerously, today's websites always offer foods (meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, tubers, fruits...) at surprisingly cheap prices. No one can guarantee that these items are safe for consumers. However, many people still choose to buy them, even though they know for sure that these are foods that have not been inspected by the authorities. Obviously, through recent food safety incidents across the country in general and Ca Mau in particular, it shows that there are still potential risks of food poisoning present in every meal of many households every day, if consumers are not alert enough to choose clean enough foods.

Consumers should choose to buy clean, quarantined and branded food to ensure hygiene and safety for their family's health.

Dr. Ho Thanh Dam, Head of the Department of Communication - HealthEducation , Center for Disease Control of Ca Mau province, said: "State management agencies need to have more active measures to mobilize and propagate, to raise awareness of community responsibility of manufacturers and business households; awareness of self-protection of health of themselves and their families of consumers. Besides, it is also necessary to proactively coordinate in developing regulations, legal policies and at the same time promote inspection and examination work; promptly detect and thoroughly handle food production establishments that violate State regulations on food safety and hygiene".

Using unsafe and unhygienic food may have the short-term benefits of being cheap and convenient, but in the long run it will be very harmful to the economy , health, spirit, etc. Therefore, consumers should not be lenient in choosing food for their families.

                                                                                       Phuong Vu

 

Source: https://baocamau.vn/thuc-pham-re-tien-loi-truoc-mat-hai-lau-dai-a39405.html