Lack of safety
The types of frozen foods on the market are very diverse, most of them are packaged, preserved, and have clear origins. However, there are many frozen foods floating around that do not fully meet food hygiene and safety criteria, especially in local markets.
In early April 2024, a reporter from Hai Duong Newspaper stopped by a kiosk selling frozen foods at the central market of Nam Sach district. Some frozen foods such as sausages and fish balls are packaged with full information printed on them, but chicken feet are displayed “openly” on the lid of a Styrofoam box. The color of these chicken feet is less fresh, some are brown after thawing.
When asked about the origin of the above chicken feet, the kiosk owner said: “I just bought it from a wholesaler. How do they know where they got the goods?” “So if you don’t sell all these chicken feet, what will you do?” – the reporter continued asking. “Then put it in the freezer and bring it out to sell again tomorrow,” the kiosk owner replied innocently.
At the end of last February, Ms. Nguyen Thi B. (from Tu Ky) for the first time bought a frozen octopus weighing nearly 1.3 kg for 250,000 VND from a peddler on the side of provincial road 391. Ms. B. said. : “It was cheap and I had never eaten it before, so I bought it to try. After boiling, when slicing the octopus meat, it was white but in some places it was slightly brown. It smelled like an indescribable smell. I was so scared that I threw it away. Go, don’t dare eat.”
The reporter brought the recorded information to consult with Mr. Tran Dinh Nam, Director of the Food Safety and Hygiene Branch of Hai Duong province. Mr. Nam said floating frozen foods are difficult to manage and difficult to trace their origin. Repeated freezing under unsafe temperature conditions will increase harmful bacteria. When the color of frozen foods changes to brown or black, it means the protein is decomposing and may contain toxins, which is unsafe.
Managing floating frozen food establishments is very difficult because most are small businesses without business licenses. The whole province has hundreds of people’s markets, with a large and diverse number of frozen products. Meanwhile, taking samples for testing is regulated to only be done on groups of mass-produced items that are used by many people every day, such as sausages, sausages, pork… “Want to evaluate and give feedback.” The recommendation is to take 4-5 frozen food samples from each market for testing, but this cannot be done because there is not enough professional manpower and funding,” a manager in this field said.
Frozen foods must be stored at -18 degrees Celsius to ensure safety. However, most small stores selling frozen foods in local markets do not meet this standard.
Recommend decentralization of management
Comparing with Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Food Safety Law, shows the management of chilled and frozen meat forms. under the authority of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hai Duong province. However, the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Quality Management under this department currently has only 7 people, so it is difficult to handle all the work.
Mr. Mai Nhat Tan, Head of the above Department, said that recently the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinated to organize a training course for food quality and safety appraisers for 38 students, including people from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Attending students are equipped with necessary management skills in food safety in their assigned fields. “Because the district level already has appraisers, we may be able to advise on the decentralization of food safety management to the district level. At that time, the District Food Safety and Hygiene Steering Committee will be responsible Responsible for food management in markets, including frozen products, the commune level will participate in supervision and propaganda,” Mr. Tan shared.
Surely many people still have not forgotten the case when the provincial authorities discovered a cold storage containing more than 70 tons of frozen animal internal organs that smelled bad in Chi Linh City in April 2020. If this facility is not exposed, many people will eat dirty food. No one can be sure that all frozen foods on the market today are safe because there may still be businesses operating illegally or not ensuring food safety conditions.
First of all, consumers need to stop buying frozen foods and only use frozen products with full labels and clear origins at reputable businesses to protect their health and their health. family.
DAWN
