Traders have used various tricks such as mixing chemicals and even stone and soil into food to increase profits.
Mixing stones with Ninh Thuan grapes
Before being sold to the market, Ninh Thuan grapes are classified into two types. The first type is undamaged bunches of better quality with prices at no less than VND20,000 (USD1) per kilo. Meanwhile, grapes of grade two and three are damaged bunches with worse colour.
Ninh Thuan grapes
However, to sell grade two and three grapes, traders have to use threads to join broken bunches together. In many cases, there may be stones placed underneath a thin layer of the fruit to increase the weight of the purchase. This fraudulent sale is quite popular at stops for buses running between the north and the south. It’s not easy for customers to detect the trick when they buy the fruit in a hurry.
At Thap Cham Station, around 10 people specialise in selling these bad-quality grapes on trains, earning between VND200,000-300,000 (USD9.52- 14.3) for every 20 kilogrammes.
The Ninh Thuan Grapes Association strongly opposes this way of sale which affects their product trademark.
Mixing pepper with soil
After buying pepper from farmers, traders soak it and then put dry soil powder into it. This not only helps to raise the weight but also permits it to pass the machine check for moisture.
A warning by Hoang Phuoc Binh, Vice Chairman of Chu Se District Pepper Association in Gia Lai Province, said, when the pepper is mixed with soil after being soaked, it gets very musty, seriously affecting customers’ health.
Turning soy-bean and chemicals into coffee
A worker from a coffee processing firm in Tan Phu District, HCM City, revealed that his workshop does not have any coffee seed, but everyday, it produces tons of coffee for the market.
Three coffee roasting machines which belong to the company have a capacity of 250 kg per batch each. Firstly, soy beans are roasted and then poured into a big plastic basket. Then a black chemical mixture is put into the basket. The soy bean and chemical mixture are poured into the roasting machines so that the soy beans absorb the chemicals better. After that, the mixture is put on a big tray on the ground and workers use tools to mix and stir it, making it to look and taste like real coffee.
The chemicals used for the illegal coffee production include many heavy metals, such as lead, arsenic and mercury which can cause cancers among consumers.
Injecting impurities into shirmps
There is a white powder named CMC or Aga, which, when mixed with water becomes a liquid which can be poured into a syringe or sprayer for injection into the shrimps.
Each kilo of CMC and Aga is priced at VND60,000 (USD2.85) and VND70,000 (USD3.33) respectively, and can be turned into 50 litres of liquid for use on 500 kilos of shrimp. This will help to increase the shrimp’s weight by 20%, helping traders to earn a profit of VND20 million (USD952.3) for every 500kg of shrimp. This process is quite popular in Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces.
Pumping dirty water into pigs and cows
During the inspection at some local slaughter-houses on August 27, Danang City’s Veterinary Department found large water pipes used to pump dirty water into the mouths of pigs and cows. This act of fraud aims to raise the weight of the pigs and cows by 20%, giving traders a profit of VND2-3 million.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
