Mai Thanh Truyết, PhD.
The sanitation for food safety in Vietnam has been an ongoing serious problem in the past 20 years. The consumption of poisoning food has been covered on the news almost every day. It seems like these problems have the tendency to escalate and become more intricate because of the chemical contaminants added to the foods.
Vietnam has over 400 thousand food manufacturers that are officially registered and about 100 thousand are non-registered as a small business. Due to the diversity and complexity of the food products, the Food Safety Sanitation services could hardly accomplish what they are supposed to do.
Food products exported from Vietnam to other countries often got rejected due to the violation of international standards of sanitation such as the contamination of antibiotic, coliform, salmonella, sulfite … found in the coffee bean, black pepper, soy sauce, dried mushroom, dried fish…
In order to solve such problems as indicated above. Here are the recommendations:
- First, eradicate all sources of supply of chemicals that are illegally used in the food manufacturing businesses as Kim Bien chemical market in Saigon City is one of the primary sources of all chemicals.
- Presently, Vietnam is not capable to produce such chemicals. 90% of them have been imported from China legally and illegally. There must be ways to stop and prevent the smugglers to import these harmful and poisonous chemicals.
- Education and training of food safety and sanitation should be required for those who are involved in the food manufacturing business.
- The government should assist the local small business manufacturers with financial and technical aids to improve product quality and efficiency.
It is hopeful that these basic recommendations could be implemented and comply. Otherwise, the conditions of food safety and sanitation would be more critically detrimental to people health in Vietnam.
| Food poisoning in Southeastern Asia (Extrapolated Statistics) in 2004 | ||
| Number of person infected | Population | |
| East Timor | 284,791 WARNING! (Details) | 1,019,2522 |
| Indonesia | 66,626,562 WARNING! (Details) | 238,452,9522 |
| Laos | 1,695,503 WARNING! (Details) | 6,068,1172 |
| Malaysia | 6,572,458 WARNING! (Details) | 23,522,4822 |
| Philippines | 24,096,945 WARNING! (Details) | 86,241,6972 |
| Singapore | 1,216,528 WARNING! (Details) | 4,353,8932 |
| Thailand | 18,124,190 WARNING! (Details) | 64,865,5232 |
| Vietnam | 23,096,959 WARNING! (Details) | 82,662,8002 |
Nowadays, the facts show that America is addicted to imports. In 1960, foreign goods made up just only 8 percent of Americans’ purchases. Today, nearly 60 percent of everything we buy is imported from overseas.
Diane Sawyer, an Anchorperson at ABC TV has made an announcement every year since 2011 that Americans should reject and boycott China food and products. Her slogan is “SIMPLY DO IT YOURSELF, AMERICA!”
She claimed: “Think about this: If 200 million Americans refuse to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that’s a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor…fast”.
The United States has fewer manufacturing jobs now than we did in 1941, but if every American spent an extra $3.33 on U.S.-made goods, it would create almost 10,000 new jobs in this country. Take our ‘Made in America’ Challenge.
Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says “Made in China” or “PRC” and also including Hong Kong, just choose a different product that “Made in USA”or somewhere else. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.
Also, Peter Navarro wrote “DEATH BY CHINA”, a book features that pointedly confronts the most urgent problem facing America today. Economic trade relations are worsening with the rapid rise of Chinese goods. Since China began flooding U.S. markets with illegally subsidized products in 2001, over 50,000 American factories have disappeared, more than 25 million Americans can’t find a decent job, and America now owes more than 3 trillion dollars to the world’s largest totalitarian nation. Through compelling interviews with voices across the political spectrum, Death by China exposes that the U.S.-China relationship is broken and must be reconciled if the world wants to sustain in peace and prosperity.
The common chemicals in manufactured food products are:
BORAX:
For today’s food industry, many types of rice paper, instant noodles are added with borax to stay gooey and stiff, longer. Pork rolls are also added borax to be more crisp and as anti-mold. For seafood, borax will make few days old fish look fresh like they just get caught.
Depending on the intake dose borax, the acute reaction of the body proceeds from mild to severe likes: a headache – body aching – heart pounding – blood pressure decreased – (seizure) and unconsciousness. Through long-term exposure, people may feel depressed, and for women may become infertility because this chemical will reduce the period of ovulation.
SULFITE
Sulfites are preservatives and antioxidants. They’re used to keep dried fruit like apricots from turning brown and to prevent unwanted bacteria from spoiling the wine. … But for those who are sensitive to them, consuming sulfites can cause breathing difficulties and, less commonly, hives or other allergy-like symptoms.
Foods That Contain Sulfites
- Dried fruits (excluding dark raisins and prunes)
- Bottled lime/lemon juice (non-frozen)
- Grape juices (white, white sparkling, pink sparkling, red sparkling)
- Pickled cocktail onions/ Sauerkraut (and its juice)
LEAD – MERCURY – ARSENIC
These three chemicals are toxic present in the source of water through fertilizer and chemical protection for the vegetable. However, some improper processing techniques also affect the consumer.
32% toys manufactured by TC contained lead in the Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit, Dora the Explorer Activity Tote, and Kid’s Poncho, imported by Wal-Mart Stores (2009).
High levels of toxic such as arsenic, lead, and cadmium, are used to marinate salted duck eggs and 1000 years duck eggs.
These three chemicals have another benefit of keeping the color lasting. Consequently, TC’s enamel industry, as well as the toy, paint and fabric industries, have the presence of these chemicals. Even the beauty industry like lipstick also has traces of lead and Rhodamine B, an artificial red color for the fabric industry.
Monitor
Monitor is a phosphor based food preservative. This is a very poisonous insecticide for the neural system and internal organs. These two substances are used in the cultivation of vegetables, cucumbers, vegetables, and melons, even used as a preservative for meat from animals such as pigs, cows and chickens, ducks and other seafood products such as shrimp, fish.
Diaminoazobenzene Hydrochloride
Roasted duck, roasted chicken, roasted pigs are detected brushing on with industrial chemicals originating from China and glossy shine using in furniture. Diaminoazobenzene Hydrochloride found in roasted pork and poultry is being sold in the market. D-H is an industrial coloring agent used in the manufacture of polymers, hair dyes, and rubber products.
Hormone
Adding hormones or chemicals to animal feed or farmed shrimp is taboo by the United Nations through the World Health Organization. But this has happened in Vietnam and China
Melamine
Melanie, which is not absorbed by the body, is trapped in the kidneys causing kidney stones. The reason is that the same melamine metabolite present while producing melamine is cyanuric acid that causes kidney stones
China mixed melamine in food and exported it around the world long before it was discovered in 2007 in the United States.
Melamine is a chemical used in home decoration industry, mixed in some paint, varnish, verni etc.
Chemical in Soy sauce
The chemical name is 3-MCPD, or full chemical name is 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol. In the process of producing soy sauce, hydrolysis of hydrochloric acid (HCl) on vegetable oils such as soybeans, green beans, or animal fat, etc., produces the above residue and some similar chemicals belong to the chloropropanol group.
Frozen fruits are poisoned
Mixed Berries were sold in February 2015 at Coles and Woolworth supermarkets in Victoria NSW, Australia.
For the Vietnamese who live in the country, no matter how skeptical or careful, they must consume these foods. That is a painful truth because most Vietnamese people are still living in poverty and they have no other option than consuming this poisoned food. Vietnam is becoming a huge pile of rubbish. This is not only an economic aspect. It covers all other aspects of life: culture, politics, and even religion. “And this is also a form of assimilation by the Chinese.
Mai Thanh Truyết, PhD.
Chairman of VAST & VEPS
New Hope Media Network 